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ANDOVER — North Reading’s volleyball team had a wakeup call yesterday afternoon, but the alarm delivered the proper message. The defending Division 3 state champion and No. 1-seed Hornets dropped the first game to Notre Dame Academy of Tyngsboro, 25-21 in the North finals at Andover High School, before charging back  to win three straight, 25-15, 25-15, 25-21. North Reading (22-1) advances to the state semifinals Thursday at Lincoln-Sudbury at 7 p.m. against the West winner, which very well could be Frontier. North Reading beat Frontier in the state finals last year after losing to it the previous two years. “It seems like the season is not complete unless we play them (Frontier),” said North Reading coach Keri Forrest. That hardly seemed like a certainty in the first game, during which the Hornets made a number of unforced errors. But Forrest and two-year Cape Anne League MVP Alison Friberg were not overly concerned. “It (first-game loss) made us realize that anything can happen, that we’d better start playing better,” said Friberg. “But I wasn’t that nervous about it because we weren’t settled in and I knew we could play better. If we had played well and lost, then I would have been worried.” Forrest felt the same way. “I said to my assistant coach that I really wasn’t worried,” said Forrest. The turning point came early in the second game with the game tied, 5-5. Sophomore Kirsten Morrison served six straight points to put the Hornets in front for good. Except for a couple of letdowns in the fourth game, North Reading was in control the rest of the way. Playing like a young Stephanie Mayne, who is now a sophomore at UMass Amherst, Morrison led the Hornets in kills with 12 and aces with six while finishing with 16 service points. “As a freshman, she (Morrison) was good, but she has really come alive,” said Friberg. But Morrison had plenty of help at the net. Elizabeth Sutera checked in with 11 kills and Katherine Mazzone added eight kills and led in blocks with 15. At one point, in the third game, Taylor Dyer (team-high 21 digs), Morrison, Sutera and Mazzone took turns getting  points with kills. “Too many weapons,” said Forrest. “I keep telling them to mix it up and Alison does a great job setting them all up. She’s our quarterback and when she’s setting up different people, and we’re on a roll, we’re tough to beat.”

 Whittier  dug itself a two-game hole before it could get untracked and fell to Notre Dame 3-1 in the Division 3 North quarterfinals. Jordan Alper had eight kills for the Wildcats (15-6) and Danielle Ryan contributed eight service points.

It was the Courtney Smith show as Central Catholic cruised past Notre Dame. Courtney Smith and Courtney Smith — no relation and both are from Windham — both shined. One Smith placed first in the diving (186.70) and was part of the winning 200 medley relay team and the other won the 100 butterfly (1:12.35) was part of the winning 400 freestyle relay team.

With yesterday's win over Notre Dame, the Methuen girls volleyball team clinched its third straight Merrimack Valley Conference small championship. Rebecca Guselli had a big night, recording 21 assists.

The Lawrence girls cross country team won its first meet in eight years, defeating Notre Dame 20-35 as part of a tri-meet with Billerica. Giselle Munoz ran a fine race to take the win, finishing sixth overall in 21:11 for 3.03 miles.

Katie Zenevitch notched eight kills to help Central Catholic down Notre Dame Academy 25-17, 25-16, 25-23. Maggie Hillman was 11 for 11 serving with 11 digs and Carolyn Eddy added 20 assists for the Raiders.