‘You’ve got to bring the energy’: Titans outlast Crusaders in rivalry thriller

ELKTON - Sports would be nothing without their storied rivalries.

Every sport has a handful of must-watch matchups that – whether it’s Steelers-Ravens, Duke-Carolina or Alabama-Auburn –always brings the fire, the intensity and, of course, the tight, impossible-to-predict contests.

In the Cecil County volleyball community, the rivalry that arguably transcends all others is the Tome Titans versus the TriState Crusaders, with every set manifesting itself as a heated battle fit for an ancient Greek epic.

The latest installment of the Titans-Crusad- ers conflict took place last Tuesday with massive implications for the Mid-Atlantic Independent League (MIL) playoffs on the line, which saw Tome (12-2) down TriState (9-4) in four sets, 3-1, to earn the regular-season sweep over its cross-county foe.

“It’s always been back-and-forth,” said Tome sophomore Grace Bradfield of her team’s rivalry with Tri-State. “It’s the atmosphere, and they bring their fans, so we have to bring ours. They’re one of the teams that you have to play against. You’ve got to bring the fans, you’ve got to bring the energy, and that just makes you a better team.”

Earlier in the season, Tome defeated Tri-

State, 3-1, in a match that Crusaders Head Coach Andy Mussaw said was much more lopsided than this one, crediting his team for having improved since the first meeting.

“Compared to our previous game against those guys, where they burned us 100% on tips and pushes into the corners,” Mussaw said, “we improved on that dramatically from the last time.”

The Crusaders gave the Titans a run for their money all night long, beginning from the opening set, which saw Tri-State take an early three-point lead, 6-3, and stay ahead by just a couple of points for most of the set.

However, as these matches tend to go, Tome stormed back to tie it at 1414, then took the lead, 1514, on a well-executed ace on a serve by junior Katy Bullerman, who was excel- lent both from the service zone and the outside for the Titans, racking up six kills.

Tome managed to extend its lead to three, 1815, but just as quickly as it’d gone down, Tri-State kicked it into another gear, winning seven straight points to take a 19-18 advantage, capped off by a dominant kill at the net by Ashlyn Criddle, who was playing her first game ever at middle due to the absence of Crusaders star Jules Harris.

“Considering (Criddle) had never played mid- continued on B-4

JV Indians Take Elks to Game Three, Secure a 2-1 Come From Behind Victory

By Megan Steimer

NORTH EAST - The North East JV volleyball team knocked off visiting Elkton Golden Elks Monday evening, en route to a 19-25, 25-18, 16-14 win. The junior varsity squads faced each other just ten days prior when the Indians came away with a 2-1 win, but if their last match was any indication how this one would play out, spectators were in for a treat.

History certainly repeated itself as Elkton was able to come away with a game one win in both matches before North East would come from behind in set two and three to take a hard-fought victory. In set one, North East seized an early 6-2 lead behind a kill from the middle by Jordan Ford, but Elkton came right back to go up 12-11 on the Indians after Delilah Summers recorded four service points, including an ace. It was neck and neck from then on out when the Elks started to pull away. Veronika Soto went on a six-point service run to put Elkton up 22-15 before losing possession of the ball. They got it right back when Dani Brackett found Summers for a kill on the way to a game one win. hit a kill off an Indians pass over the net, livening up the Elks side and bringing the visitors within four to tie. The passing errors were too much to overcome though, as North East secured a set two win to tie the match and yet again, take Elkton to a set three. one point between staying alive and defeat. The Indians rallied though, starting with sophomore Natalie Smith who secured a kill to bring her team within one. Smith then rotated to the back line and knocked in an ace to tie the game 14-14. The following play, Pelletier found Paige Dugger for a kill to take a 15-14 lead when a passing error by the Elks secured the final point and a match win for the home team. North East JV stormed the court in celebration of an absolute thriller, stunning the Elks in a come behind set three victory. Pelletier dished out three assists to go with three aces on the night while Ford recorded two aces and one block for the Indians. Dugger led the team with three aces and a kill for North East. On the Elks’ side, Summers concluded the evening with two kills.

Set two certainly had an interesting start as the Indians got the ball to begin, serving it over to the Elks where it was thought to hit the floor for an ace. However, it hit an Elkton player’s foot and was still playable, so the Elks sent it over the net amid an Indians’ ace celebration, securing the first point for set two. North East rebounded though, when middle Natalie Jones made a huge block to put her team up 5-2. Trinity Cunningham served back-to-back aces while Jones recorded an ace as well, helping the Indians lead increase 15-10 before Elkton called a timeout. The game slowed a bit before Elkton’s Sophia

Summers served an ace to give Elkton the first point, but it was back and forth the next few. Coming off an Elkton time out, North East was determined to keep their lead, first with an ace from Ford followed by a set from Kaelyn Pelletier for a Kamryn Kitts’ kill to keep the momentum and ball on their side. Rosario had some tricks up her sleeve to keep Elkton in the game, pushing the ball to deep corner where it dropped on the Indians’ side. A couple of unforced errors by the Indians put the Elks up 13-11, giving them an opportunity to take the match. A few plays later, North East found themselves down 12-14 with

Rosario