MARPLE — From the opening serve, something just felt off for Cardinal O’Hara.

The Lions never quite hit their groove Tuesday night, falling to Hempfield, 3-1, in the first round of the PIAA Class 4A tournament. The District 12 champs looked flat early, giving away points on miscommunications and unforced errors while the District 3 runner-up took advantage.

O’Hara couldn’t dig out of that slow start.

“It definitely affected us negatively,” senior outside hitter Ashlyn Gualtieri said. “We were all, like, we have to pick it up and we can’t be slow like this. That’s why we dropped the first two sets. And in the last set, after they hit 22, it was like we gave up. It was a tough way for us to end the season.”

The Lions dropped the first two sets, 11-25 and 25-27, before coming back to win

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