ORWIGSBURG - It was exactly what TJ O'Connor feared.

And it's exactly what happened.Not only was O'Connor's young Lehighton volleyball squad decided underdogs against Blue Mountain in Thursday's District 11 Class AA quarterfinal matchup, but the Indians were also facing arguably the best player in the Schuylkill League in Brittany Moyer.That combination did a number on the nerves of O'Connor's players and it resulted in slow starts in the first two games against the Eagles. While Lehighton settled down by the third game, it wasn't enough as it was swept out of the postseason 25-13, 25-9, 26-24."I think the moment got a little bit too big for us," said O'Connor, whose seventh-seeded Indians finished the year with a 10-9 record. "I think we came in preaching not to be nervous, came in preaching not be concerned, and that's what obviously ended up happening."It said a lot for the girls to come out and be able to play the way they did in game three. We have some really competitive players ... and they really came out and said let's pull this thing together and focus on this next game. To the whole team's credit, everybody pretty much did their job in game three. It's just unfortunate we couldn't score two more points than they did."Blue Mountain (18-2) came out firing on all cylinders, racing to a 7-1 lead in the opening game. A couple kills and an ace from Alex Ferrier helped fuel a 7-2 spurt that pushed the lead to double digits, and putaways by Moyer on the final two points sealed the first contest.The No. 2 seeded Eagles enjoyed a similar start in game two, as seven service points from Maya Throne helped give the hosts an early 10-1 advantage. Moyer capped the victory with her 1,000th career kill. The senior star finished with 15 kills and 10 digs."She's just a great volleyball player and a fantastic kid," said O'Connor, who actually coached Moyer when she was younger. "She's the type of kid you'd love to have in your program. She's a hard worker and as far as I'm concerned, she's the best all-around player in the Schuylkill League."Lehighton's best players came through in the ender, nearly winning its first game against Blue Mountain this season (the Eagles swept the Indians in their two regular-season matchups). Despite falling behind 10-5, the Tribe battled back to a 15-15 tie. Blue Mountain quickly regained the lead but couldn't pull away and Lehighton eventually went ahead 25-24. Kills from Nicole McQuillan, Ferrier and Ashley Snesavage, however, gave the Eagles the game and the match."The first two games we played with intensity and I told the girls in the huddle after the first 30 points of game 3 we didn't play with intensity and we were tied at 15-15," said Blue Mountain mentor Nick Marrongelle. "Lehighton played extremely well in game three. They didn't want to go home. I know any team coached by (O'Connor) will never give up. They fought and fought, but we picked up a couple crucial points to finish the match."Junior Alyssa Jordan finished with nine kills and four digs to lead the Indians while sophomore Katie Higgins added six kills and 11 digs. Tori Eads-Rodriguez, another 10th grader, chipped in with 14 assists and a pair of digs."We had a young crew coming in," said O'Connor about the season. "We said from the get-go we weren't going to use that as an excuse ... They stepped up. We had a lot of young girls contribute. We also had three really great seniors (Holly Hinkle, Brianna Karpowicz and Michaela Petrucci) who worked hard the last four years to get prepared for this season. They provided strong leadership and ultimately it carried us to districts."