Finding a rhythm at the right moment can create momentum in a match as the Cougars were facing a 23-11 deficit in the opening set before rallying with effective serves to knot it at 23-all, but Hampshire Volleyball did just enough to escape with the win and kept the pressure from mounting in an overall straight set match victory over East Hardy last Tuesday in Sunrise Summit: 25-23, 25-18 and 25-16.
“We didn’t quit and we didn’t lay down,” East Hardy Volleyball assistant coach Chris Hahn remarked.
“We played a good team. No. 12 [Renee Killough] is as good a hitter as we will see around here. That’s as good as they make them right there. As a team, I was telling our girls that’s what the top looks like. I was not happy that we let so many easy points get away. I thought we shot ourselves in the foot too much and you cannot do that when you are playing a team that’s better than you. Frankly, Hampshire was better than us today. I’d like to take a few more shots at it and we do play them a few more times this year, so we will see. This is a very good volleyball team we just played, but our girls didn’t lay down. When you play somebody better than you, you can really see your errors and see what you have to focus on in practice. We have a lot of stuff to focus on in practice. Our plan A is our two big hitters and frankly they didn’t match up with their two big blockers. We were playing out of our system and we did okay adjusting. We modified our game plan once we found out plan A wasn’t going to work and that kept us in the game. We forget what to do mentally sometimes and you can’t [private]do that against a team that is better than you.”
East Hardy started the match with Victoria Ames serving and the Trojans garnered the first point on a spike by Renee Killough.
Hamsphire would go up 5-2 before the Cougars responded with two straight points off attack by Erin Riggle and a service point by Emily Dyer.
Hampshire’s Emilia Smith slammed a spike, but the ensuing serve went out.
The Cougars kept the match close in the beginning with digs on defense by Perry Whetzel, Riggle and Dyer plus attacks by SierraMarie Miller and Riggle.
Hampshire got into a groove building a substantial advantage as Madison Mathias, Killough and Simmons create kills in addition to forcing errors and collecting aces by Mathias and Killough.
After an attack by Mathias put the Trojans up 23-11, East Hardy mounted a comeback.
East Hardy’s Perry Whetzel made a save during a serve and Miller finished the sequence with a kill to spark the momentum change as her ensuing serve landed for an ace.
Whetzel notched a dig against an attack by Mathias and Victoria Ames made a push kill for the Cougars, then Miller’s next serve was returned into the net as the deficit was shrinking 23-15.
An attack by the Trojans sailed out of bounds and Miller returned to the service line delivering an ace and there was a defensive violation on the following serve.
Riggle recorded a block and Miller served up another ace to close the gap to 23-20 as the Cougars noise forced a timeout by Hampshire, struggling to figure out how to close out the set.
East Hardy’s Courtney Shank came out of the timeout tapping the ball over for a kill and Riggle slammed down a spike before the set was tied on a serve by Miller as the Trojans redirection was swallowed by the net for a 23-all score.
Riggle’s next attack was blocked by Smith, then Ames made a dig save and Riggle was whistled for a carrying violation.
Whetzel made a dig on the serve by Killough and the set by Ames drifted to the side where Riggle chased it down and was determined to be out of play giving Hampshire the set point 25-23.
“I wasn’t particularly pleased with our execution. We made some substitutions and no fault of the people who went in the game, but I think the rest of the floor went flat on us during their rally. We missed an incredible amount of serves tonight. We are still trying to figure out our cast and chemistry. We definitely have things to work on to speed up the game and help us be more consistent,” Hampshire Volleyball coach Megan Fuller stated.
“We do some great things, but we don’t do it all the time and in every situation. We are a little behind from where I would like us to be right now. You can see flashes of it, so I know it is there. It is just a matter of getting it to come out. East Hardy always works on defense and play up some great balls. They struggled with our height a little bit, but as far as defensive effort they were going after everything. [Renee Killough] She is a very good volleyball player and we will see her playing on the collegiate level. She reads people really well and tends to get blocks wherever she goes.”
East Hardy’s Emily Dyer made a dig to start the second set on a serve by Hampshire’s Madison Mathias, but the Trojans countered with a block by Renee Killough on Gabby Miller before collecting the ricochet for a spike.
An ace by Smith and block by Killough put Hampshire up 3-nil in the second set before an error gave the Cougars a point.
During Riggle’s serve, Hampshire’s Simmons had an attack careen off of Ames out of play before Lainee Selan served into the net.
The Trojans corralled the next two points, then East Hardy snatched a couple markers on kills from Miller and Ames as the Cougars were prowling, which led to two straight aces by Miller to tie the set at 7-all.
Ames made a dive for a dig, but the ball off a volley from Killough just got down to the floor moments before her fingers could slip underneath.
A brilliant saving dig by Ames on a serve was countered by a kill from Killough.
The next serve went into the net, then Riggle made a block and spike to put the Cougars up 10-9.
Mathias garnered two kills and Killough added another one to regain the lead, 12-10.
A handful of errors in addition to a block and kill from Killough led to the Trojans holding a 20-12 advantage, then East Hardy began another rally.
SierraMarie Miller created a point off an attack, then Dyer kept the floor clear with a dig pass to Miller crossing the net and the return by Killough went wide.
East Hardy’s Gabby Miller’s attack was sent back to the floor by Killough.
A pass from Dyer to Miller for an attack appeared to collect a point for the Cougars, but there was a violation of breaching the plane of the net.
Hampshire’s Killough delivered an ace and the ensuing serve went low.
East Hardy’s Perry Whetzel’s serve went into play and both sides made some amazing saves on attacks with Miller, Ames, Whetzel and Riggle tracking down the ball.
Riggle notched a dig and Ames passed to Miller, who slammed the next three points over the net with nary a return to close the gap to 24-18.
The Trojans won the second set as an attack by Hicks deflected off a dig by Miller, 25-18.
It was a very tight battle in the third set up until the final tie of 9-all before the Trojans steadily broke away building a 16-9 advantage and maintained the edge finishing the match 25-16.
An ace by Riggle put East Hardy up 4-3 before a block by Killough was the equalizer,
The Trojans serve out and the serve from Dyer was redirected out on an attack by Smith.
Another attack by Smith went awry as the Cougars took a 7-4 lead.
Hampshire earned a few points off errors and a block before Shank answered with a spike.
Mathias tied the set at 9-all on a kill, then the Trojans notched two consecutive aces from Smith.
Killough notched a couple of points off attacks and a save by Smith was met with a dig by Ames only to find its way into the net.
A block by Killough and ace by Smith created the 16-9 lead, but the following serve hit the net.
Ames served for the Cougars, then Hampshire got a spike from Killough and the serve by the Trojans went into the net.
Killough made a tap style kill and Selan delivered an ace to put Hampshire ahead 19-11.
After an error by East Hardy, the Cougars regrouped as Riggle garnered a spike off a set by Dyer and served up an ace to cut the deficit to 20-13.
The next serve went out, then Killough served an ace before the Cougars countered with a tap kill by Miller.
Dyer served two consecutive aces before landing the third attempt just beyond the back line as East Hardy trailed 23-16.
A couple of attacks by the Trojans were deflected out of play as Hampshire claimed the final set 25-16 and overall match 3-nil against East Hardy’s valiant effort.
During the Spring Mills Tournament this past weekend, the Cougars rebounded with a 2-nil victory over Frankfort, but ended up losing to the host Cardinals by the same score 2-0.
East Hardy travels to Petersburg tonight, then visits Hampshire this Saturday with Frankfort.[/private]
This coming Monday the Cougars will host Pendleton County and greet Berkeley Springs on Tuesday before the Hardy County rivalry rematch against the Yellow Jackets on the road at Moorefield on October 15.