It was championship Saturday at Robert E. Clark Gymnasium in Hagerstown Oct. 17 with four teams still chasing their dream of a sectional championship. Winchester beat Union County and Hagerstown defeated Shenandoah in semifinal matches to set up the championship that Winchester eventually won.
Semifinal Match 1: Winchester 3, Union County 0
Tri-Eastern Conference regular-season champion Winchester played TEC runner-up Union County in the opening semi-final match. When the two teams played on Sept. 3, Winchester swept the Lady Patriots. Saturday’s match was more competitive but the end result was the same. Union County led most of the first set before the Lady Falcons took their first lead at 14-13 and pulled away. In the second set the only lead Union County had was at 1-0 and in the third set Winchester led wire-to-wire to advance to the championship match.
Winchester (28-3) 25 25 25
Union County (20-11) 18 16 11
Stat leaders not available for either team.
Semifinal Match 2: Hagerstown 3, Shenandoah 0
Hagerstown swept the Lady Raiders in their regular-season meeting on Sept. 24 and swept them again on Saturday. The focused Tigers were never challenged as they moved to the championship match against Winchester.
Hagerstown (25-7) 25 25 25
Shenandoah (16-11) 14 12 18
Hagerstown stat leaders: Assists: Lilah Doerstler 34, Digs: Kennedy Romack 12, Lilah Doerstler 11, Kenly Ferriell 11, Kills: Raleigh Doerstler 20. Shenandoah stat leaders: not available
Championship: Winchester 3, Hagerstown 2
Winchester entered the match as a heavy favorite. The seventh-ranked Lady Falcons defeated Hagerstown 3-1 in their regular-season meeting Sept. 10 and went on to shatter the Winchester school record for regular-season wins.
Winchester was the only school in the 2A enrollment class with three players named preseason first-team all-state by Indiana Preps. It was a huge challenge for the Tigers.
Hagerstown sent a message in the first set that they came to compete. The Tigers led wire-to-wire en route to a 25-17 win.
The second match was intense. It was tied eight times and the lead changed hands six times before the Falcons won the set 25-20 to tie the match.
The Hagerstown team maintained its composure. The third set was tied seven times before the Tigers gradually pulled away to take a 25-21 win.
With their backs against the wall, the Falcons responded in the fourth set. After seven ties, the last at 13-13, the Falcons went on a 4-0 run and the Tigers never recovered, eventually losing the set 25-18 to force a fifth and deciding set.
The Tigers who had played so well suddenly lost their edge. The Falcons won the set 15-7 to win the sectional and advance to the Greenfield-Central regional where they will face Indiana Scecina Memorial on Saturday, Oct. 24, for the right to advance to the semi-state round.
The match was the last in a Hagerstown uniform for seniors Raleigh Doerstler, Marley Johnson, Nora King and Avery Slaven. Doerstler had 30 kills in the championship match and 50 on the day, extending her school record career kills total to 1,413 and her school record single-season kill record to 482.
Winchester (29-3) 17 25 21 25 15
Hagerstown (25-8) 25 20 25 18 7
Hagerstown stat leaders: Assists: Lilah Doerstler 42, Digs: Kennedy Romack 31, Kills: Raleigh Doerstler 30. – Winchester stat leaders: not available.
A version of this article appeared in the October 21 2026 print edition of the Western Wayne News.
