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Eagles spread wings

SALEM — After a sloppy beginning, the United volleyball team quickly found its stride in Wednesday’s Division III district semifinal.

The second-seeded Eagles committed a slew of serving errors on their way to dropping the first game to fourth-seeded Springfield before recovering to dispatch the Tigers 21-25, 25-22, 25-20, 25-8 at Cabas Gymnasium.

“We came out trying too hard and we just needed to settle in and play our game,” United coach Chad Weber said. “We missed seven serves in that first game. After that I settled my servers down and that was that.”

The Eagles (14-10) advance to face the opponent they all wanted to see.

United will take on top-seeded Crestview in a district final at noon Saturday at Salem. United was beaten twice in the regular season by the Rebels, once in four sets and once in three.

“Personally, I want to play them really badly,” United’s Camryn Jarrett said. “It’d be great to come out and beat them in our third matchup.”

“I want Crestview, I think we all want Crestview,” Weber said. “I don’t think we played to our full potential during the regular season. I’d like to see both teams play up to their potential and see what happens.”

The Tigers finish at 13-11.

Springfield kept things close in the second and third games before the Eagles used late runs to close out each of them. The fourth game was never in doubt as United went on an 8-2 run to move in front 13-5.

The Tigers could not find an answer for Jarrett, who finished with 17 kills and six blocks

“She (Jarrett) was the biggest difference, we had no defense for her,” Springfield coach Bill Knight said. “She hits the ball down very well, plus they have very good servers. I think we woke United up, but after the third game I think the pressure just got to us.”

Rachel Bowen had a solid game serving for the Eagles and finished with 17 points. Mariah Eisenbraun added five kills, six points and 11 digs.

“They were single-blocking Camryn all night,” Weber said. “I told them if we could get passes to her consistently we could do some damage.”

“I think my timing was pretty good on my hits today,” Jarrett said.

Springfield was paced by freshman Lyndsey Smith with 11 kills. Sara Chaszeyka added eight kills and three blocks. Kaelen Yemma added 21 assists and nine points.

The Eagles now have two days to prepare as they try and topple the Rebels.

“During the season, we had some early leads on them and our serve-receive broke down,” Weber said. “That’s what we’re going to work on. If our serve-receive holds up we have a good chance.”

Match notes

¯ United beat Springfield twice during the regular season, once in three sets and once in five.

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