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  In possibly one of the most dramatic and exciting Central Region volleyball matches ever played, the Hanover Hawks bounced back from a 0-2 deficit in the regional semi-finals to defeat Deep Run 3-2 and earn a berth in the state tournament.

  For Hanover, the victory was equivalent to the removal of a curse. After years of watching Deep Run end their season. “Beating Deep Run right now it the highlight of my season,” said Hanover senior outside hitter Kristin Carpenter. “Actually, the highlight of all four years because we have only beaten them three out of the 10 times we’ve played.”

  What makes the 3-10 mark against Deep Run more significant is the outcome of the matches between the two teams normally held huge implications. Even though the two teams are perennially among the region’s best, when they meet there is usually the reward of a state tournament berth hanging on the outcome. And throughout the past five years, Deep Run has come out ahead in such match-ups.

  “Our first year it was Deep run, knocked us out,” Hanover head coach Wendy Wadsworth said.

  “The second year, we went to the state finals,” she added. “We get to the state finals—Deep Run.”

  Last season, Deep Run defeated Hanover in the regional semi-finals. The Wildcats went on to win the state tournament while the Hawks went home.

  “Our goal would be to play them in the finals and we both go to states,” Wadsworth said. However, due to preset pairings the two district winners are perennially on the same side of the bracket meaning such a matchup is impossible.

  “It was do or die,” Wadsworth said of the regional semi-final match. “Winner goes to states, the loser ends their season.”

  For the first half of the match, it appeared Hanover would suffer the later half of that equation when Deep Run jumped out to a fast start, taking the first two games 25-22, 25-21. Though the Wildcats played an exemplar game, the Hawks felt they were giving the match away. Throughout the initial games, Hanover’s most potent weapon, Carpenter, continually misfired the ball out-of-bounds.

  “The first two games I was nailing the walls,” Carpenter said. “I don’t know where I was at.”

  Wadsworth said the combination of playing against Deep Run and having a state tournament berth on the line may have affected Carpenter’s play. “She was a little nervous,” Wadsworth said.

  However the Hawks regrouped in game three and it was Carpenter leading the charge, scoring points and reassuring her teammates when errors occurred.

  “She got it back together,” Wadsworth said. “She said, ‘we have to eliminate our errors. We’re not giving them any chances to make errors if we’re making them for them.’

  For Wadsworth, the change in game plan was simple. “We tightened up and focused on keeping the ball in play rather than making kills.”

  Hanover setter Katie Hudencial concurred with her coach. “We just focus on one point at a time,” she said. “We just try not to worry about our mistakes.”

  The strategy paid off in a 25-17 Hawks’ victory in game three.

  As the teams switched ends of the court to prepare for game four, Carpenter got some additional advice from a somewhat unlikely source; her father, Atlee head coach Curtis Carpenter.

  As Coach Carpenter sat in the stands waiting with his team to play the second semi-final match, he said he could tell his daughter wanted advice. “She looked at me,” he said. “So she must need something from dad.”
  Coach Carpenter’s instructions to his daughter were basically no different than Wadsworth’s. “I could see she was trying too hard,” he said. “I told her to calm down.”

  Coming from her father, the words had more of an impact on Carpenter. “He’s my coach 24/7,” she said. “I listen to him more than anybody on this planet besides my college coach.”

  Curtis joked about the effectiveness of his advice. “I guess she listened to me for a change,” he said. “She definitely started putting the ball in the places where it needed to be.”

  Even though Hanover played better, Deep Run led 25-24 with a chance to end the match when controversy erupted.

  With the Wildcats looking at match-point, Carpenter rose from the left end of the net for a kill and spiked the ball towards the block of Deep Run’s Eleanor Moran. As the ball rocketed towards the right corner of the court and the line judge, the official flinched back signaling the ball had gone out-of-bounds untouched, thereby handing the Hawks defeat.

  As the capacity crowd erupted believing the ball landed in-bounds and the Hanover players stood in shock, the officials discussed the call.

  For her part, Carpenter could not believe a match of such magnitude would end on a bad call. “She touched it,” Carpenter said of Moran’s block. “I aim for her hands. I know she touched it.”

  However, Carpenter had been victim to bad calls before and knew there was a possibility her high school career was over. “Everything was going through my head,” she said. “We weren’t ready to put these jerseys away.”

  After minutes of discussion, the officials opted to wave off the crucial call and instead re-serve the point.

  Though the Wildcats came out on the short end of the changed call, they had plenty of opportunities to close out the match.

  Hanover tied the game at 25 only to see Deep Run move back to match point at 26-25. Once again Hanover retied the game and once again Deep Run moved within a point of winning.

  In all, Deep Run had six shots at game point before Hanover pulled out the dramatic 33-31 win, tying the match at two games each.

  Hanover took the momentum of the win to close the incredible comeback with a 15-8 victory in the tie-break game. Though Carpenter finished the match with 35 kills, the final four points of the contest came in true team fashion for the Hawks, on scores by Kim Browning and Taylour Hopkins.

  As the Hanover players laughed, cried and hugged, even they appeared stunned by their accomplishment. “I’ve played a lot of volleyball and that was one of the most intense games I’ve ever played in my life,” said Hudencial.

  For the match, Hudencial had 47 assists and Browning added 12 kills and eight blocks.

  Deep Run was led by Mallory Woolridge, who finished with 23 kills, and teammate Meghann Forshey had 29. Lindsey McClellan and 53 assists for the Wildcats.