Box Score
BEL AIR, Md.—The Harford women's volleyball started off slow, not registering a kill until about halfway through the first set, but gradually picked up steam and ended its final home match on a high note with a 3-0 (25-18, 25-17, 25-21) win over Northern Virginia on Wednesday night at Susquehanna Center.
The Fighting Owls (4-22) snapped a nine-match losing streak with the sophomore day win, while avenging two losses to the Raiders (5-5) earlier in the season.
Fittingly, sophomore Brittany Kaszak (Perry Hall, Md./Perry Hall), one of the night's three honorees, led the Harford attack, totaling eight kills on 20 attacks with just one error for .350 hitting percentage. Kaszak also added four digs and two blocks (one solo, one assisted) on the night, while freshman Jaclyn Hall (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) was just two digs away from a double-double with 21 assists and eight digs.
Cassandra Dasch led the Raiders with eight kills and three errors on 22 attacks for a .227 hitting percentage, while Fabiana Paez added 17 assists and seven digs.
Northern Virginia controlled the first half of the first set, until the Owls knotted the score at 10 and then took their first and only lead thanks to two consecutive Raider errors. Harford would gradually string together serving runs on the way to the 25-18 win, due in part to the 15 total errors by Northern Virginia.
After trading points to start the second set, freshman Sarah Baker (Joppa, Md./Joppatowne) served for five consecutive points to give the Owls a 5-1 lead, which they would not relinquish for the remainder of the set. Northern Virginia would manage to cut the lead to two points, 16-14, but a kill from freshman Lydia Zeller (Fawn Grove, Pa./Kennard-Dale) sparked a five-point serving run behind sophomore Ashlyn Tapler (Jarrettsville, Md./North Harford) to give the Owls a 22-14 lead on the way to the 25-17 win.
Set three saw the Raiders take a 3-0 lead before an 11-1 Owl run, composed of a three-point and six-point serving run, gave Harford a 12-4 lead. Northern Virginia would battle back, thanks to a six-point serving run of its own, and would knot the score at 18. Harford would hold off the rally, however, with three points behind freshman Rebecca Wysocki's (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) serve on the way to the 25-21 match and set win.
The Fighting Owls honored its three two-year, sophomore players—Kaszak, Tapler and Tara Knotts (Jarrettsville, Md./North Harford) in a pre-match ceremony and will wrap up the 2009 season on Friday when they travel to Hagerstown for a 7:00 p.m. match.
