Earlier this season, Arundel needed four sets to defeat Severna Park. The Wildcats required only three on Wednesday to beat the Falcons and claim the Class 3A East Region I title.
On match point, sophomore Dakota Pentorn lofted the ball to a leaping Bailey Swinton on the left side of the net. The junior fired it to the tip of the edge line, landing just inside, to secure their sixth straight region championship.
“We have been working so hard to put the puzzle pieces in place,” coach Ashley Yuscavage said. “I’m proud of them for working through challenges and then being able to put them in place today.
Arundel returned a younger roster in 2024. After having nine seniors on last season’s state runner-up team, the Wildcats have five this year. It took time for the team to mesh together with new players in new roles, Yuscavage said.
Mishaps from earlier in the fall weren’t apparent on Wednesday night on their home floor. After Severna Park scored the first point of the match, the Wildcats scored the next six and cruised to a 25-15 set win.
Arundel carried the momentum into the second set and opened with eight straight points, prompting a Falcons’ timeout. The break, though, couldn’t slow the Wildcats who rattled off 10 more points before another timeout. The Falcons scored their first points following the pause but Arundel still captured a 25-6 win.
“When we start off strong like that, it’s really hard to end our momentum and that’s what guided us,” Swinton said.
Similar to the first set, Severna Park scored the first point of the third set, but the Wildcats pulled away and claimed it, 25-13.
Yuscavage credits an early-season bout against Bullis for altering the expectations for the season. As a private school, the Bulldogs were bigger and faster than their public school opponent, and had more experience, Yuscavage added.
Arundel struggled early but pushed back and made the match close before ultimately falling. But the spirit shown in their comeback fueled confidence for the rest of the season.
“In that one match alone, we saw the girls have a shift in their attitude,” Yuscavage said. “I was watching them realize in that one match that this team could be bigger than maybe what they thought before.”
The Wildcats’ two captains this season are juniors Swinton and Lexi Sahai. Both have different leadership styles. Swinton, Arundel’s libero, is the vocal leader of the team — telling her teammates how they can improve. Sahai sets the model of how to work, bringing a strong attitude and work ethic to practice every day.
“These are two kids who seem to walk in every day and have good days,” Yuscavage said. “That is emblematic of their ability to put the team first and push through things. Every single thing they do seems to come from a place of wanting the best for the team.”
Arundel has seen two of its sophomore defenders, Kaydee Zee and Sophia Miga, excel in their increased roles this fall.
The pair haven’t been intimidated by playing against older players and are a core piece to their success, Yuscavage said. Their coach believes playing on varsity as freshmen aided their development.
“Getting to play with them and learn from them, and sort of see what our expectations are with those seniors and being able to model it was really important,” Yuscavage said.
The Wildcats were the state runner-up in the last two seasons. Yuscavage hopes the team takes pride in the progress they’ve made in 2024, and embraces the privilege of having postseason pressure.
Her team agrees with the sentiment.
“We just want to finish on a high and be proud of everything that we did,” Sahai said. “When it is the end of the season, we want to know that we did everything that we could.”