Raptors Women's Volleyball Downed Potomac State and Toppled Hagerstown to Claim Region XX DII Championship
On Saturday, the Raptors women's volleyball claimed the Region XX DII Championship, defeating WVU Potomac State College 3-1 in the semifinal match and upset the top-seeded Hagerstown Community College Hawks 3-1 in the championship match at the Rockville Campus Main Gym of Montgomery College. The Raptors improve to 16-8 overall with the win and advance to the Mid-Atlantic District Championship, which Montgomery College will host as they are the higher seed.
The Raptors started slow on Saturday, falling behind a quick 3-7 to start the opening frame against the Catamounts of WVU Potomac State College. However, the Raptors began to fight back to pull within four points, 8-12, and then went on a 9-2 run to take an 18-14 lead. The Catamounts got as close as two points at 19-17, but the Raptors ran away with it from there, scoring six points for a 25-20 win and a 1-0 lead in the match.
The Raptors would drop the second set 18-25, but they wouldn't let that stop them from bouncing back in the third set. The Raptors never trailed in the third set, and except for a bad set in the first rally to start the fourth. Montgomery didn't trail again in the match to win 25-20, 18-25, 25-20, 25-10.
The Raptors came out hot in the championship match, taking a quick 7-1 lead over the Hawks to start the opening frame. After that, the Raptors continued to truck along without letting the Hawks pull even through the first set to win 25-21.
The second set was even to start, but the Raptors never let up to allow the Hawks to tie up the set and stay out in front through two sets. The Hawks would battle to take the third set (19-25), but the Raptors wouldn't allow them to take any more than that. Hagerstown was still running off their momentum from the previous set to start the fourth set, and it was back and forth 8-8, 10-10, 12-12, 13-13, 14-14. Finally, a five-point run included a few kills by Sydney Babb and Helen Federline. The Raptors would pull away and take a five-point lead 24-19. Montgomery capped off the match with a 25-21 win to pick up a four-set victory and earn their spot in Mid-Atlantic District Championship.
Sydney Babb led the way offensively for Montgomery with 24 kills, adding 32 digs in the Regional Tournament. Helen Federline was next with 15 kills to go with 21 digs, and ZaKya Mann picked up ten kills for the Tournament. Madison West led the way defensively with 37 digs and added three serves aces. Jaelyn Jackson tallied 22 digs, and five assists, and three serves aces. Kira Ng led the team with 45 assists, followed up by Diana Garcia with 12 assists. Defensively, Natalie Nelson registered 19 digs while Susana Alzate also added 14 digs on the day.
The Raptors will host County College of Morris Saturday, November 6th at 1:00 pm in the NJCAA DII Mid-Atlantic District Championship at the Rockville Campus.
2021 Region XX DII All-Tournament Team:
Tournament MVP: #10 Sydney Babb - Montgomery
#6 Madison West – Montgomery
#12 Kira Ng – Montgomery
#13 ZaKya Mann – Montgomery
#18 Macie Christman – Hagerstown
#16 Anniya Grantham – Hagerstown
#13 Katie Morgan – Hagerstown
#4 Taylor Fleagle – Frederick
#6 Caitlyn Gilbert – Frederick
#8 Lauren Whiteman – Potomac State
#15 Kylie McGuire – Potomac State