Moorefield and East Hardy Volleyball teams jumped for joy after clinching state tournament berths with victories over Gilmer County and Doddridge County, respectively suffering in agonizing defeat in the Class A Region II Tournament semifinals held in Moorefield on Saturday.
Last season in the regional semifinal, it was the same pair of opponents battling for a trip to Charleston with Moorefield surviving five sets against the Lady Titans and Doddridge County ousted the Lady Cougars in straight sets en route to claiming the title over the Lady Yellow Jackets.
Turning the page to 2019, the Lady Yellow Jackets swept Gilmer County 25-14, 25-13 and 25-19; while East Hardy took four sets to eliminate Doddridge County 25-15, 24-26, 25-20 and 25-14.
These games were played simultaneously with fans[private] cheering loudly in both gymnasiums.
“This is super exciting, super exciting for our seniors playing on our home floor. There are all kinds of excitement and emotions today. They came out and were able to do it in three. We were a little sluggish in the third game, but we were able to come out and finish. There was a lot of movement on the floor and overall a great team win. At the beginning of the season this was on the back of the girls minds, but you have to take every match one at a time and get better every day and every game. This group hasn’t lost focus and they know what they want and they are reaching their goals one at a time. It is exciting to see them from where they started to where they are now. We aren’t done yet and we just want to keep moving forward,” Moorefield Volleyball coach Morgan Hill See stated.
The Lady Yellow Jackets pulled from within working together to rally from a 14-9 deficit in the third set to conquer Gilmer County, who just landed an ace by Carrah Ferguson.
The rally started with a tap over the net by Moorefield’s Remington Hinkle for a kill.
During a serve by Gracie O’Neill, Alyson Simmons made an attack and it was returned into the net before the next volley sailed out for the Lady Yellow Jackets.
An attack by Simmons was carried on return by Gilmer County’s Macee Starsick.
After an error by the Lady Titans on a serve from Hinkle, Starsick created a spike.
Gilmer County served out, then digs were made by Moorefield’s Anna Riggleman and Gilmer County’s Carrah Ferguson.
Attacks by Moorefield’s Lindsey Rinker and Sydney Hardy turned into points on errors, then Hardy served an ace to put the Lady Yellow Jackets ahead 18-17.
Starsick blocked a volley, but Rinker and McGregor saved the ricochet and McGregor made a kill.
Ferguson landed a spike, then a volley by Taylor McHenry deflected off Moorefield as the Lady Titans tied the set.
A kill by O’Neill put the Lady Yellow Jackets in the lead again and the momentum continued with a spike by Hinkle and an ace from McGregor.
Gilmer County made an error on a volley out of play.
Moorefield closed out the match with kills by Rinker and Hinkle to secure a ticket to Charleston with the team jumping for joy as the Gilmer County players were in despair.
“It’s really special along with all our seniors, we’ve been working hard for this since freshman year. This is an amazing feeling. We have been struggling with game three all year, but once we came out on fire in the first set we did okay. Staying focused when we are down and pushing through it is what matters to get the second win,” Moorefield senior Lindsey Rinker noted.
East Hardy revenged last season’s loss to the Lady Bulldogs by staying focused and making the right plays to secure the win.
Doddridge County was a tough opponent for the Lady Cougars, especially with aces served by Justice Underwood and Josalyn Lipscomb and attacks by Lipscomb.
East Hardy made adjustments with blocks by SierraMarie Miller and kept the pressure going with attacks from a plethora of hitters including Erin Riggle, Jaden Fleshman, Emily Yates, Rebecca Whetzel and Emily Dyer.
“You can’t wait until you’ve put yourself in a hole to try and fight back. That takes up more energy than playing your normal game. We kept doing that in all four sets, we got ourselves in a big hole and tried to dig ourselves out. We didn’t have anybody on their game. That’s not how we’ve been playing. I don’t know if they were tired, because they certainly weren’t nervous. We were calm, cool and collected. We are used to playing Saturday morning tournaments every weekend in September. I don’t know what happened, but they weren’t themselves. I am not going to take anything away from East Hardy, their defense was great and their offense was fine. Our feet where planted defensively. We have one of the best liberos in the state, but she was playing on an injured ankle and you could see it slowed her down a lot. That’s not an excuse, because the rest of us should have played. We were flat, that’s girls and that’s volleyball. Whoever comes out with the momentum on their side gets the points and it certainly wasn’t us today. We are a young team. Things happen,” Doddridge County coach Kris Bonnell stated.
In the fourth set, the Lady Cougars built a 3-0 lead on attacks from Dyer and Riggle before a volley went awry.
After an error, Doddridge County’s Kaiden Amos made a kill and a serve by Lacy Rummler created a mistake at the net, 5-3.
Riggle made a save on a serve by Rummler with Miller passing to Yates for a spike, then Miller served an ace to put the Lady Cougars up 7-3.
Amos notched a point off an attack, then East Hardy responded with kills by Fleshman and Miller plus an ace by Yates to build an 11-4 advantage.
Yates had great spin on the ensuing serve which deflected off one Doddridge County player and another caught the ball with both hands.
East Hardy’s Rebecca Whetzel launched a spike prior to a service error.
The Lady Cougars dialed up more points as Fleshman and Miller slammed the ball for a 16-5 lead.
After a serve into the net, Doddridge County’s Abigail Nicholson made a block and it was saved on digs by Whetzel and Dyer before a return attack by the Lady Bulldogs went awry.
Miller delivered an ace for East Hardy, then Doddridge County countered with kills from Lipscomb and Nicholson.
An attack by Riggle was returned into the net, then a save from Rebecca Whetzel landed back in the net as the Lady Cougars managed a 20-8 advantage.
Nicholson made a kill and a block, then a dig by Underwood turned into a point for the Lady Bulldogs cutting the deficit to 20-11.
Amos and Underwood created points off attacks for Doddridge County, then the Lady Cougars answered with attacks from Riggle deflecting into the net.
Miller garnered a spike before a serve from Riggle landed in the net for a 24-14 score.
East Hardy won the fourth set and overall match on a serve by the Lady Bulldogs McKenzie Wright flying out of bounds and the Lady Cougars leapt for joy sealing their fate going to the state tournament in addition to facing Moorefield in the region championship.
“We saw Doddridge earlier in the year and they were pretty good. The kids had an expectation of how hard they would have to play. We’re very excited to go to the state tournament. These seniors have never gone to state, because they were sophomores the last time we went and last year we didn’t get to go. Everybody is excited to go to Charleston for the first time. They have given up a lot of personal things to focus on volleyball and I am glad this has paid off for them. The second set was on us, so it was baby steps and we had to clean up our mess. The game plan doesn’t change, we focus on our team,” East Hardy Volleyball coach Marsha Hahn remarked.[/private]