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By Ryan Mink
rmink@digitalsports.com

Before Glenelg could reach the 1A volleyball state championship game, the Gladiators first had to even their record.

That’s right, the Gladiators had a losing record heading into Monday’s state semifinal match against Colonel Richardson. And yet again, Glenelg showed that the results on the regular season don’t mean anything come postseason.

The No. 8-seeded Gladiators defeated Colonel Richardson in four games Monday at the University of Maryland’s Ritchie Coliseum, 16-25, 25-15, 25-5, 25-19. Glenelg has now won six straight games – five of which coming in the playoffs – after trudging through a spell of eight losses in nine games.

“Howard County’s a pretty tough county, I think, for volleyball,” said junior Casey Schmidt, who notched 15 kills and 11 service aces. “I think all along we kind of knew we would get this energy and this hype near the state playoffs and we’d pull it together.”

As one of the smallest schools in the Howard County, Glenelg (10-10) is at a disadvantage to many schools on its regular season schedule. Not only is the school’s size a hindrance, but Howard County volleyball is traditionally very good. This year the county sent three teams to the state semifinals.

At the end of the skid of eight losses in nine games, Glenelg Coach Don Beall talked to his team about the season being part of a journey rather than a sprint.

“We’re very-well battle tested going through Howard County. We can play with anybody,” Beall said. “Right now we’re to a point where we’re sprinting pretty good. That’s what matters.”

Colonel Richardson (13-6) started off much stronger on Monday as each team seemed to struggle with the magnitude of the match. But Glenelg came charging back in the second game, finishing it with a 10-3 run highlighted by Schmidt.

Schmidt dominated the third game. Her jump serve helped Glenelg win 16 straight points to take a 19-2 lead and the Gladiators never looked back from there.

“At the beginning [of that service stretch] I was feeling pretty good,” Schmidt said. “ I kept going back to the line and I was a little more tired and out of breath. It was like a marathon.”

Schmidt moved from middle blocker to outside hitter with the injury of Eliza Bittner earlier this season. Schmidt has played outside hitter for only six games, Beall said. But the coach wasn’t worried about the switch.

“She picked it up pretty good, but she’s fine-tuned it pretty well now,” Beall said. “She’s just been dominating. She’s phenomenal, just a great athlete.”

Glenelg built another solid lead in the fourth game but Colonel Richardson chipped away until it was 21-18. That’s when Schmidt killed three straight balls to end the match and send Glenelg to the finals for the first time since 2005 when the Gladiators won the state title.

“When we start to get down and start to lose our momentum, I kind of get that adrenaline,” Schmidt said. “You always want the ball to come to you because you want to hit it real hard and get the plays back.”