I watched with great anticipation the Class C state volleyball semifinal between Monroe St. Mary Catholic Central and Reese Thursday afternoon from the Kellogg Arena in Battle Creek.

I usually don’t spend a lot of my time watching the state tournament once our teams have been eliminated, but I just had to see how the Kestrels would fare against Reese.

The result was not that much different from having watched them defeat Brandywine in the quarterfinals on Tuesday night.

The sets were a bit closer than against the Bobcats, but the result was the same — a 3-0 sweep.

I remember thinking to myself after the quarterfinals on Tuesday night that the Kestrels are the best volleyball team I have seen in some time.

I have been trying to recall a team that was as talented as they were, but in the past five or six years I couldn’t come up with one that I had actually seen play in person.

I would have to go back to the Diane Davis-led Lakeshore teams.

I never like to see our local teams defeated, especially when they get that far down the tournament trail.

But I feel a little better about it when a better team beats them.

Now to be totally honest, I know that the Bobcats did not bring their “A” game Tuesday night.

But I am not sure it would have mattered because St. Mary CC looked to me to be the better volleyball team.

Add to that the comment I overheard about them being disappointed in their play and I just think no matter what the Bobcats did, they were destined to be finished on Tuesday night.

That being said, it was a great year for Brandywine volleyball. The Bobcats were undisputed Lakeland Conference champions for the first time since 2001 and district and regional champions for the first time since 2003.

This was an extremely talented group of young ladies who were very hard and deserved all the awards and praise that they received over the course of the season.

The certainly had no reason to hang their heads following Tuesday night’s loss to the Kestrels.

There were three seniors on this year’s squad who played a key role in the success for the Bobcats. There were four girls who will now switch their focus to basketball, where Brandywine has been tremendously successful the past couple of years.

It is ironic that Brandywine played St. Mary Catholic Central in the semifinals of volleyball since that was the same team the basketball squad met in the quarterfinals last March.

The outcome was a bit different on the basketball court.

Who knows? These same two schools could end up meeting again on the hardwood next March.

I want to congratulate the Bobcats on a fine season. They have a lot to be proud of. Their fans showed up in big numbers during the tournament run and supported their team with great enthusiasm.

Everyone associated with the program should be extremely proud of its success.

Scott Novak is sports editor of  Leader Publications. He can be reached at scott.novak@leaderpub.com