Lady Mounts Achieve Goal

The Ephrata girls volleyball team had a series of goals to start the season.

Two of them were obvious: Win a section title and earn a berth in states.

The third goal? Perhaps a little less obvious.

“The other one was to host at least two district games,” said Ephrata head coach Mike Elliott. “Last year, we had to go to E-town for the (quarterfinals). They hadn’t been to states in ages, and we hadn’t, and they got it.”

This year, the Mountaineers will get their chance to host a District Three Class 4A quarterfinal match, thanks to a hard-fought 3-1 victory over Lower Dauphin on Tuesday night at Ephrata Middle School.

Next up, No. 4 Ephrata will host No. 12 Penn Manor, a 3-1 winner over Central Dauphin, on Thursday for the right to move on.

Solid defense and a well-balanced offense pushed the Mountaineers (18-2) past No. 13 Lower Dauphin in Tuesday’s opening round. Game scores were 25-22, 25-23, 15-25 and 25-12.

Taylor Haupt and Courtney Smith each finished with double-digit kills, and back-row defenders Erin Eby and Olivia Horst led a dig-happy defense that kept rallies alive.

“Defense was a big deal for us tonight,” Haupt said. “We knew they would be hitting hard.”

Key to the Mountaineers success was the return of sophomore setter Sofia Rios to the starting lineup after she had been sidelined with an injury for the latter part of the regular season.

More often than not, good passes led to quality sets from Rios, giving Haupt, Smith, Horst and Evelyn Banks an opportunity to finish. “It is quite amazing having Sofia back,” Haupt said, acknowledging teammates Smith and Madelyn Muhr for having filled in at setter. “And just to hear that she’s having fun while feeling good, being healthy … we’re all excited to have her back.”

Rios had 13 of her 41 assists in game one, going to Smith (14 kills) in the middle early and often.

The Falcons (11-6) would stay on Ephrata’s heels throughout the opening two sets, however, before rocketing to a 20-12 lead in game three. Lower Dauphin was potent from the service line, finishing with 12 aces.

Haupt kept Ephrata close with six kills in the third before the Falcons closed out the game, giving Lower Dauphin’s contingent of fans reason to believe.

But the Mountaineers calmly pulled ahead in the fourth, opening the game with back-to-back aces from Eby.

A solo block from Banks extended the lead. Haupt added a pair of kills down the stretch and Horst tallied one of her five kills off the Falcons’ block to seal the match.

Haupt finished with a match-high 16 kills. Banks had two blocks, Horst 17 digs and Rios three aces.

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