KNOX — Otto-Eldred traveled to Keystone Thursday night in hopes of moving on to the District 9 1A semifinal. Those hopes were dashed in straight sets however (25-23, 25-23, 25-19).
Keystone opened the match with a 6-1 lead, but Otto-Eldred then rattled off 6 straight points with 3 kills from senior hitter Carrie Drummond to go up 7-6.
The two teams were neck and neck as the set went on, Keystone finally developed some wiggle room when they went up 17-13. Otto-Eldred kept the pressure on the Panthers though and tied the set 23-23, Keystone still got the last two points of the set to get a huge first set win.
Keystone slowly developed a 10-6 advantage in the second set. The Terrors then got six points in a row though to take the lead 12-10. Otto-Eldred looked like they were in a good spot later on when they were up 19-15.
The Panthers were able to tie it at 20-20. The Terrors got the next two points, but Keystone won five of the next six to take the second set 25-23 yet again.
“Finishing has been our problem all year,” Otto-Eldred head coach Dan Drummond said. “Even since summer camp, we would get a lead on a team, and we would just let them come back.”
Keystone jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the third set, the lead increased to nine points at 13-4. Otto-Eldred then came out of a timeout firing on all cylinders, scoring five in a row to make it 13-9.
Keystone called a timeout of their own and the Terror momentum stopped there. Keystone proceeded to take an 18-11 lead out of the timeout.
Otto-Eldred still fought hard, and they were able to close the deficit to two points making it 19-17. Keystone didn’t let the Terrors complete the comeback though, the Panthers took the third set 25-19.
For Otto-Eldred, Drummond had 12 kills and 15 digs. Ayla Vanscoter had 7 kills and 8 digs, while setter Emma Button contributed 19 assists.
“It was a tough loss,” Coach Drummond said. “This was my last year of coaching. I’m going to miss the girls; it was a fun ride and we were still NTL champions and that’s huge.”
Keystone advances to play No. 1 Clarion-Limestone in the semifinals.
Port Allegany and Coudersport also saw their seasons come to an end in the quarterfinals.
See Page B-3 for scores.
