Not many people within the local high school volleyball community expected Catonsville to be in the mix for a state title this season following the graduation of setter Mallorie Clary, who is now at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County.
But the Comets (14-1) are in better shape for the postseason this season than last year. They are the top seed in the Class 3A North Region and have a chance to win their first state title since 1987 when the playoffs start Friday.
“I don?t think anyone had us as a No. 1 seed before the season started,” said Catonsville coach Dorothy Gill, whose team advanced to the regional final in 2005. “We?re really excited about our seed and that we will have a home-court advantage through the regionals. But we?re not done. We want to get further than we did last year.”
Catonsville is just one of a number of teams with interesting story lines in the playoffs. Another is Centennial, which missed out on playing in Thursday?s Howard County title match after losing to Reservoir Friday.
Still, the Eagles earned the top seed in the 3A East with hopes of winning a third straight state title and 13th overall.
Another team with something to prove is Liberty (12-1), which just won its eighth straight Carroll County title. The Lions have a number of key players, including setter Ashleigh Swiontek and hitters Melissa Stansbury, Sam Walters and Alex Mercer, who are hungry to win the program?s third state title in four years.
“It?s not going to be easy, but we have a history of playing well now,” Liberty coach Dave Trumbo said.
Among the area?s sleeper teams are Kenwood and North County, 4A schools from Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties, respectively. Kenwood (11-2) earned the fourth seed in the 4A North, while North County (11-3) surprised a lot of teams this year and narrowly missed out on the Anne Arundel County championship.
“Traditionally, North County has mainly been a softball school,” Knights coach Greg March said. “But we?ve always had athletes, and this year, we?ve had players that are more dedicated to volleyball.”
