Karns City may have gone home with the playoff victory, but no
one can say Bradford handed it to them.

Bradford fell in a brutal point-by-point volleyball battle that
ended in Karns City’s favor, 16-25, 25-18, 25-23, 26-24 in a
District 9 Class AA quarterfinal match Wednesday.

Bradford came out and kept the first game flowing smoothly,
scoring well on its serve, pulling ahead and successfully earning
the last point through a strong volley, with a score of 25-16.

“Caitlin (Persichini) controlled the first game very well,” said
Judy Abbey, BAHS coach.

Karns City came out looking to even things up and pulled ahead
early in the second game, going up four points right away. Taking
advantage of strong serves and Bradford sideouts, Karns City pulled
off its first win 25-18, evening games at 1-1.

Both teams settled in for a fight, with the next two games
becoming a back and forth, point-by-point battle for victory.

The third game saw both teams playing evenly, alternating
scoring. With the game even at 13-13, an early whistle by the
referee gave the point to Karns City, despite a diving save from
Bradford’s Rachel Garges that prevented the ball from hitting the
floor.

The Lady Owls recovered quickly, however, sending the ball onto
the KC sideline to give Bradford the serve back.

Lexie Goble then sent the ball straight into the back left
corner of KC’s floor for a Bradford tally, followed by three points
by Bobbi Hopkins to send Bradford ahead 21-18. Karns City responded
with an ace, making the score 21-19. The Gremlins ended the game
with an ace to make it 25-23.

The fourth game of the night was also a fight to the end. Karns
City opened the game with a ball into the net.

Bradford’s serve ended in a Karns City point. The visitors moved
ahead 5-3 on serves, but Hopkins’ serving evened the score at
6-6.

With the score deadlocked at 13-13, a third hit back row save by
Karns City surprised Bradford and put the Gremlins ahead. The Lady
Owls followed that with three points scored by Garges, putting the
hosts up 16-14. A short serve gave the ball back to Karns City with
Bradford ahead 16-15.

With the score even at 22-22, Karns City sent a serve rolling
over the net, putting them up 23-22. This was followed with a serve
out, as the score was even again at 23. A Bradford serve, which
rested on the net and rolled over to hit the floor, put Bradford up
24-23, followed by a serve out make the score 24-24.

A Lady Owls block that knocked the ball out on the next point
put Karns City ahead 25-24. Karns City won the final point to gain
the victory 26-24 and the match.

Leading the Lady Owls were Persichini (1 dig, 1 ace, 3 points,
15 assists), Garges (3 digs, 2 kills, 1 ace, 12 points), Hopkins (4
blocks, 11 points), Michele Keane (6 kills), Sarah Langy (6 kills,
6 points) and Nicole Keane (10 digs).

“This was definitely a Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde situation,” Abbey
commented. “We came out fired up and played well the first game. In
the second game they (Karns City) started tipping. I will give
Karns City credit, they found our weakness and what we needed to
change.

“Our serving was good. We had excellent play from Lexie Goble at
the net. We weren’t prepared for them tipping over Lexie, which
started in the second game.”

Karns City advances to face Punxsutawney in a semifinal match at
11 a.m. Saturday at Clarion University. The day’s other semifinal
will see Clearfield face Kane. The battle for the District 9 AA
title will follow at 2 p.m.