by TOM UTESCHER

With a pair of home court victories, fifth-seeded Mount St. Joseph Academy advanced into the quarterfinal round of the PIAA District One volleyball tournament.

The Magic (15-3 overall) started off with a 3-0 sweep of Strath Haven High School on Tuesday, October 21. Two nights later the locals dropped their opening game against Coatesville High, but then ran the table to win 3-1.

In the first match, the visiting Panthers played better than their lowly 28th-ranking and 7-15 record might suggest. Strath Haven put up a struggle in all three games and the Mount had to come from down 21-23 in the second game in order to wrap up the match victory at 25-17, 26-24, 25-17.

"The first game of districts is always tough," noted MSJ coach Sandy Butcher. "We were sort of feeling them out. Our kids started to put it together and get things going by about the third game."

Some MSJ errors and good net play by Erica Britton helped 'Haven go up 9-6 in the opening game. Unreturned serves by Lana Ulrich and kills by Cara Mulholland, Kait Woznicki and Lisa Detwiler helped the Magic edge ahead, 15-12. From there the locals pulled away to a more commanding 20-13 advantage, getting a couple of big kills by Detwiler and a well-placed tip from Devon Lash. Margaret Flynn also put a ball away as the Magic progressed toward game point, which came on a double hit called against the Panthers.

Figuring prominently for the Mount in the next two games were big hits by Detwiler, the MSJ captain, and precise sets from her teammates, primarily from fellow senior Steph Berg. Late in the second, and throughout the third game, Ulrich also came on strong for the Magic.

The hosts jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second game, but Strath Haven answered with a 10-4 surge, founded mostly on hits out-of-bounds and flawed service returns by the Magic. The teams seesawed up to the 20-point mark, and then the Panthers went ahead, 23-21. Ulrich's kill off a Panther block and a tip by Mulholland tied the game, and the score went to 24-all on a crafty scoring pass by Lash and a Mount net violation. Woznicki tipped the ball to open space to move the Magic ahead, and the game ended when Mulholland delivered a spike and 'Haven knocked the ball up into an overhead rafter.

The Panthers continued to resist in game three. They led early, 9-7, and later the Magic edged ahead, 18-16. The visitors would only claim one point after that, though. Ulrich and Detwiler recorded kills, while Strath Haven made a few hitting errors, and failed to handle a pair of serves by Lash. The Mount collected match point when Panthers' captain Jenna Andrusko tipped the ball outside of the wand on the left net post.

The Magic had beaten their next opponent, Coatesville, in a 3-0 regular-season bout way back on September 2. The locals knew that the Red Raiders would be bringing a major league hitter in 6'1" Christine Angus, who did not disappoint last Thursday as she pounded out 21 kills in the match.

"When she got in the back row, it was a lot easier for us to hit and do things," MSJ's Butcher admitted afterward.

Mount St. Joe fought to a 13-8 advantage in the middle of the opening game, but Coatesville ran off five straight points to tie it up. A little later, the teams were locked up at 17-all, and the Mount's offense flickered out. Angus and Kristen Rutledge scored for the Raiders, the Magic failed to return several serves, and back-to-back kills by high-flying outside hitter Janise Butler closed out the game at 25-17.

Coatesville edged ahead 7-5 in game two, but then the Mount took control with two scoring runs, 8-0 and 7-0. In the first spree Lash aced one serve and baffled the Raiders on several others, while Ulrich scored on a tip and Anna Szczesniak connected on a hit. Another blow by Szczesniak and a pair of dinks by Woznicki helped fuel the second MSJ surge.

Up 21-10, the hosts had a bit of a lapse and allowed Coatesville to make it close, but the Magic still won 25-18 on a kill by Mulholland. Throughout the match there was excellent defense on both sides, as players picked up splinters off the floor in heroic dives to dig out the ball.

The visitors notched the first three points of the third round, but then floundered as the Mount roared past them to go up 19-5. The key stretch centered around a 12-point serving stint by MSJ's Deanna Every. Coatesville helped out by committing two net violations and a carry, and by hitting the ball into the webbing three times and into the ceiling once. Berg fooled the Raiders with one of her no-look second-touch passes across the net, Detwiler and Mulholland each slapped a kill, and Detwiler and Flynn combined for a pair of blocks. The Magic went on to win 25-12.

A 16-10 lead in the middle of game four boded well for Mount St. Joe, but an ace and two other unanswered serves by Daniella Garrison helped the visitors roll up six points in a row. A few minutes later, the two squads were tied again at 22-22. A big blow by Angus didn't make it across the net, and then the Raiders stumbled on a hit by Flynn, bringing up match point. The Mount blocked a spike by Coatesville's Butler, and another Raider hit the ball into the net to end the match.