In the Howard High gym there’s a banner that reads “State Champions, Volleyball, 1980.”
The current team walks by it most days and probably doesn’t notice it. Lately, it’s been getting a little more attention, though. If it were up to setter Imagine Peltier, it would have a twin real soon.
The host Lions made sure they’d still be in the running get it that twin on Friday night when they beat Arundel, 25-20, 25-17, 22-25, 25-20 in the Class 3A state quarterfinals. It will be Howard’s first trip to the state semifinals since that trip in 1980.
The Lions (18-0) will face Montgomery County’s Thomas Wootton, a 3-0 winner over Dulaney in another quarterfinal, on Tuesday at a site to be announced.
“We’ve worked so hard to get here,” said Peltier, who finished with 40 assists, four aces and 10 digs. “I’m just so proud of everyone for all of the work they’ve put in to get us here. This is a great accomplishment for us. We played with a great amount of confidence. I felt like we just wanted it more.”
Arundel (12-5), which has won two state titles in the last five years and was last year’s runner up in Class 3A, came out the more composed team in the first set. The Wildcats jumped out to an 11-4 lead, but Howard slowly began to gain confidence and cut the margin. Arundel took a 17-15 lead in the first set before the Lions went on a 7-1 run to take a 22-18 lead. After the teams traded points, Howard got kills from Jackie Klugh (12 kills) and McKenna Brown (12 kills, 12 digs) down the stretch to finish out the set, 25-20.
The Wildcats spent most of the second set playing catch-up. Strong serving by Peltier and Kayleigh Williams (13 kills) gave Howard an 8-4 lead, forcing Arundel coach Ashley Yuscavage to call a time out. After the break, Peltier responded with an ace and two more points to build the lead to 11-4. Arundel got as close as five points at 21-16, but a Riley Poholsky ace for Howard finished out a 25-17 set win.
Arundel showed its pedigree in the third set. This time, the Wildcats used five service points by Myiah Parks (3 blocks) to pull away towards the end of the set and take a 22-19 led. Howard managed to cut the lead to 23-22, but an attack error and a ball into the net gave Arundel a 25-22 win.
The fourth set was all Howard. The Lions built a lead between three and six in the set and never trailed, finishing off the Wildcats, 25-20.
“It was a great game. Arundel is a fantastic team, and we knew it would be a really tough game,” Howard coach Grant Scott said. “I’m just so proud of my athletes. They’re not done yet, though.”
“I had a lot of hope for this team,” Howard middle blocker Dylann Loggins said. “You could tell in the beginning of the year that we were going to go places. Then we put in the work, and now we’re here. It’s an incredible feeling.”
For Arundel, one of the state’s best programs, the season ended a few games early.
“We just didn’t do the things we needed to do [to win the match],” Yuscavage said. “There wasn’t anything they did that we couldn’t contain. We just didn’t put the pieces together tonight, and they played a great game.”