Led by junior Adarrah Danner, Wilson’s defense blunted Exeter’s hitters and beat the Eagles 3-1 (25-22, 23-25, 25-19, 25-12) in a District 3 Class 4A quarterfinal Tuesday night at West Lawn.
The fourth-seeded Bulldogs (20-1) qualified for the PIAA Tournament for the first time in their program’s history and advanced to a semifinal at top-seeded Cumberland Valley, a 3-0 winner over Conestoga Valley, Thursday night at 7.
“It’s amazing to make states,” Danner said. “It’s such a big thing for us because our school has never made it before. It’s such a journey to come this far. I love it.”
Time after time, Danner came up with digs against Exeter senior outside hitter Maddie Forry, the Berks Player of the Year, and slowed the 12th-seeded Eagles (12-7), whose season came to an end.
Danner, Wilson’s libero, finished with 15 digs.
“Defending Maddie is a challenge,” she said. “It strengthens you as a player when you have someone as good as her hitting at you constantly. It really builds your skill as a player. It’s really nice to compete against a player like her.”
Danner and the rest of the Bulldogs stepped up to that challenge and beat Exeter for the fourth time in as many meetings this season.
“I was not comfortable playing them again,” Wilson coach Denny Werner said. “They’re senior-laden. They have very talented players, not only Maddie. Jason (Grove) is a very talented coach. He can pick us apart because he knows us extremely well.”
Exeter led the first set 21-19 before the Bulldogs scored six of the final seven points and got two wonderful digs by Danner to win 25-22.
“She’s spectacular,” Werner said of Danner. “She’s just so athletic and has great instincts. We have a certain defense we play against Maddie. She was all over that tonight and all over the place in general.”
The Eagles came from behind late to take the second set 25-23, scoring the final five points behind Jenna Gehris’ two precise sets and her drop shot.
The third set was close until Wilson used a 4-0 spurt near the end behind the service of Sarah Stoltzfus to take charge and won it 25-19.
“I probably would have rather played someone else,” Grove said. “Wilson’s just very big and very athletic. It’s not a good matchup for us. We competed as well as we could under the circumstances. Ultimately, their size and their athleticism is just a lot to overcome.”
The Bulldogs broke open the fourth game and cruised to a 25-12 victory to seal it.
Forry finished with 16 kills, nine digs and three aces for Exeter, Gehris had 36 assists and five kills, Saniya Odom had 11 kills and Riley Mack had seven kills and two aces.
Kassidy Means had 20 kills and 16 digs for Wilson, Cameryn Niedrowski had 36 assists, seven digs and two kills, Rachel Etim had nine kills and Bintou Sissoho had eight kills and five blocks.
The Bulldogs reached the district final last year and would have qualified for states if not for the limited field because of the pandemic.
“We talked about it since the beginning of the year,” Werner said. “This is their legacy as a team. They can say they did it in their senior year. Not bad for a bunch of kids who aren’t all-stars.”
Source: Berkshire mont
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