BERLIN- Stephen Decatur’s varsity volleyball team had an up-and-down experience in the state playoffs this week, sweeping Meade, 3-0, last Friday before falling, 3-0, to visiting Wilde Lake on Monday.
The Seahawks, owners of a 13-2 overall record this season, drew a number-four seed in the state Class 3A-East Region tournament when the brackets were announced last week, and as such earned at least a handful of home matches as they advanced. Decatur took care of business last Friday, beating 13th-seeded Meade in three straight games to advance to the second round.
Decatur appeared to get a break when 12th-seeded Wilde Lake upset the five-seed in their first round match to gain a trip to the second round. In either case, Decatur would have been the higher seed and would have played either team at home, but the Wilde Lake upset did not work out in the Seahawks favor.
In the first game on Monday, Wilde Lake jumped out to an early 16-9 lead before Decatur went on a run to cut the lead to 16-14. Wilde Lake finished strong, however, and took care of the Seahawks, 25-16, in the first game. A similar scenario played out in the second game with Wilde Lake jumping out to an 8-2 lead before the Seahawks rallied to cut the lead to 8-6.
From there on out, Wilde Lake rolled to the 25-11 win. The very small but very loud group from Wilde Lake pounded drums and screamed for their team, at times getting into a noise competition with the big Seahawk home crowd, turning the gym into a wall of noise. Wilde Lake continued to dominate in the third and final game, pulling away for the 25-10 win.
The loss in the second round did little to tarnish an otherwise great season for the Seahawks, who finished with an overall record of 14-2.