Bowie cruises to county volleyball title
Bulldogs earn convincing victory with three-game sweep of Douglass
After her team easily captured the Prince George's County volleyball championship match Wednesday evening, Bowie High School senior setter Heather Garnto was eager to grab the trophy.
Unbeaten County 4A League champion Bowie swept County 3A/2A/1A League champion Frederick Douglass 25-5, 25-11, 25-7 at Charles H. Flowers High School.
Bowie (13-0) has yet to taste defeat in a single game this season. Wednesday evening, the Bulldogs jumped on the overwhelmed Eagles early thanks in part to a 10-0 service run from Tiffany Eller. Bowie so thoroughly dominated the match that Garnto, who is the key to the Bulldogs' offense, sat out the third game.
"We had never gotten a trophy before, and tonight we got two," said Garnto, referring to the league and county championship trophies the team collected. "It was great just to be able to play in the county championship match. I was hoping it would be a more competitive match. But our serving was good and we passed the ball well."
Eller's run typified the difference in the two squads. While Bowie had little difficulty on serve-receives, the Eagles struggled significantly to handle the Bulldogs' serves. Eller collected eight aces during her 10-0 run. Bowie senior Siri Ngundam ended the opening game with seven consecutive winners, including five aces.
"We just didn't play as well as we could have," said Douglass coach Angela Alcain, whose team dropped to 12-2. "We definitely have to work on serve-receives before our next match [on Monday in the 2A South quarterfinals]. We definitely did not play up to our potential. I thought we played better the second and third games."
Bowie sophomore Yaje Ngundam started the second game with 11 consecutive service winners, including five aces. Douglass returned only two of her serves before an error ended the run with Bowie leading 12-2.
Even with Garnto on the bench in the third game, Bowie jumped out to a commanding early lead with a brief service run from Loretta Owens and a longer one from Siri Ngundam.
"We're looking forward to the region playoffs," said Bowie coach Eric LeMaster. "But it was nice to win a county championship. Now we want to be regional champs and go to states. That's been our focus all season. I'm very confident in this group of girls. We've got a great setter and great hitters. I can't wait to get the regionals started."
Bowie is the top seed in the 4A South Region playoffs and will get started on Monday against the winner of Friday's opening-round match between Northwestern and Oxon Hill.
Douglass is the No. 1 seed in the 2A South Region and has a home match Monday against the winner of Friday's match between Howard County schools Long Reach and Glenelg.