This afternoon, the volleyball team swept Evangel Christian, 3-0, in the PSAA semifinals to claim a place in a championship match for the fourth consecutive season.

The Bears took all the drama out of the semifinal by overpowering the Eagles from the beginning. The Bears held a commanding 23-15 lead in game one when Ava McCormick notched a kill to put the Brook up 24-15 on their way to the 25-17 opening win.

In game two, the Brook raced out to a 7-2 lead behind three kills from Bekah Detwiler and one from McCormick. The Eagles pulled back within 10-8, but a Niamh Scanlon ace ushered in a 15-3 run to close the second game. An Elizabeth Robbins kill pushed the lead to 12-9 before a rocket off the hand of Shannuel Lamptey ignited the crowd. Kills from McCormick and Detwiler followed and Leslie Kang notched consecutive aces as the lead swelled to 17-10. A third Kang ace was sandwiched between a Detwiler spike and touch kill as the advantage grew to 21-10. A pair of Natalie Stefaniuk aces capped the 25-11 win.

Game three was close in the early moments as Evangel showed their character by shrugging off their deficit to take a 10-7 lead, prompting a timeout from coach Stan Winston. It proved to be just the reorientation the girls needed as they stormed back to take a lead they would not relinquish. Consecutive kills from Lamptey knotted the game at 11-11 before McCormick gave the Bears the lead back for good with a kill of her own. Consecutive kills from McCormick and Detwiler pushed the edge to 18-12 and another Kang ace moved it to 20-12. Three more kills from Detwiler gave the Brook a 23-16 lead and then the senior captain ended the Eagles’ season with an ace for the 25-17 win.

Detwiler finished with 16 kills and 3 aces while Lamptey and McCormick added 8 kills each. Robbins notched 51 digs and 4 kills and Stefaniuk fed the offense with 24 assists. Kang’s serve was on today as she recorded 5 aces.

The Bears move on to tomorrow’s PSAA Championship where they face the west’s #1 seeded Heschel in a 4:30 match-up at Long Island Lutheran.

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