There was plenty of roaring and buzzing in the Den last Thursday during rivalry week as the Lady Yellow Jackets Volleyball squad navigated four sets to claim the season sweep over East Hardy in Baker by the scores of 25-19, 21-25, 25-19 and 25-18.
The student sections for Moorefield and the Lady Cougars were in full force supporting their sisters on the court.
“They came together and played well when they needed to tonight. They were mixing it up at the net, but our serves didn’t look too good and our back row struggled a little bit. Both teams played some really good volleyball. We’re at a really exciting [private] part of the year and we need to continue to work on things to improve and back at it next week. There was a lot of action at the net and we need to keep working at it to find something that works, because we can’t keep freeing it,” Moorefield Volleyball coach Morgan Hill-See stated.
Starting off the match was Moorefield’s Lindsey Rinker serving across the net with a return by East Hardy’s Erin Riggle, then the first point of the match came on a kill by Remington Hinkle for the Lady Yellow Jackets.
SierraMarie Miller served for the Lady Cougars and earned a point as Moorefield’s Gracie O’Neill got tangled in the net.
The ensuing serve by Miller went out of play, then Moorefield’s Hanna Carlson delivered an ace before finding the net.
East Hardy tied the set at 3-all as Rebecca Whetzel served an ace before sending the ball out.
During O’Neill’s service, Moorefield’s Madison McGregor had a volley blocked by Miller with Emily Dyer making a save and Jaden Fleshman landed a spike.
Riggle went to block Hinkle’s shot and tried to recover only to be penalized for a carrying violation.
Volleys from both sides hit the net before Fleshman recorded a kill to tie the set again at 6-all.
East Hardy’s Emily Yates served and McGregor made a dig, then an attack by Fleshman was blocked by McGregor.
After a handful of errors, Moorefield took a 12-7 lead on an ace by Rinker and a pair of kills by Alyson Simmons.
The ensuing serve hit the net and the Lady Cougars earned a point off an ace by Miller.
Simmons notched a spike and Sydney Hardy garnered a pair of kills to give the Lady Yellow Jackets a 15-9 edge.
After a carrying violation on Moorefield, Yates landed a spike and Whetzel created an ace as the Lady Cougars cut into the deficit, 15-12.
An attack by Rinker was met with a dig by Dyer and Riggle made a save and the return volley from O’Neill went awry.
During Dyer’s serve, Fleshman’s attack ricocheted off the dig attempts of Simmons and Rinker out of bounds.
The Lady Yellow Jackets went up 17-14 on a kill by McGregor.
Riggle made an attack and it was returned out of bounds, then Miller notched a point on a kill redirecting a dig by O’Neill.
East Hardy’s Jaden Fleshman’s attack was blocked by Rinker and the ensuing serve by Hardy went out of bounds.
Yates served and Carlson returned the ball making it ricochet off the Lady Cougars for a point.
A serve by McGregor wasn’t returned and the next volley from East Hardy went out of bounds as Moorefield took a 21-17 lead.
The first set ended on a kill by Hinkle giving the Lady Yellow Jackets a 25-19 win.
Miller started serving in the second set for the Lady Cougars and Hinkle made a push attack which was met on a dig by East Hardy’s Perry Whetzel, then Riggle’s attack was met with a dig by Simmons and Rinker set for O’Neill landing a spike.
Rinker’s serve was saved by East Hardy’s Rebecca Whetzel and Fleshman hit the net, 2-nil.
The Lady Yellow Jackets gave up a point as Hinkle launched the ball out.
Rebecca Whetzel made a couple of attacks which were defended on digs by Simmons, then another Lady Cougars attack hit the net.
An attack by McGregor ricocheted off the shoulder of Perry Whetzel towards the bench for a point.
Moorefield went up 9-3 with the assistance of errors during serves from Hardy and attacks from McGregor.
East Hardy’s Emily Yates had an attack returned into the net before starting to serve and Victoria Ames made a dig off an attack by Rinker and Fleshman set Miller for a kill, 9-5.
Miller blocked Carlson with the ball falling on East Hardy’s side and Fleshman made a dig save, but the pass couldn’t quite be saved by Ames.
Miller landed a spike, then Fleshman garnered an ace to cut the deficit to 10-7,
O’Neill and Rebecca Whetzel traded spikes before Hinkle’s attack was deflected out and Dyer’s attack was blocked into the net by Hinkle for a 12-9 score.
Simmons made a dig on a serve from Whetzel before Yates notched a kill.
Hardy’s attack was met with a dig by Fleshman, then Riggle created a spike as the Lady Cougars pulled to within one point, 12-11.
Several errors were created on attacks by Riggle as East Hardy rallied for a 14-13 lead.
Rinker recorded a block and an attack from O’Neill was met on a dig by Ames sailing back into the net as Moorefield regained the lead 18-16.
East Hardy’s Rebecca Whetzel landed a kill in the back corner of the court, then Fleshman delivered two aces and another serve was returned into the net as lead changed again, 20-18.
Moorefield’s Kaleigh Hunt made two digs on attacks by Dyer and Miller which were sandwiched by kills from Miller and Rebecca Whetzel for a 22-19 score.
East Hardy’s Perry Whetzel made several digs, then Hinkle’s attack was redirected into the net.
Moorefield’s Sydney Hardy’s attack attempt was ruled a carry switching to a push, then Rebecca Whetzel served up an ace, 24-20.
An attack by Hardy was returned into the net, then Riggle’s attack was met on a dig by Hinkle and an attack by McGregor was met with a dig by Perry Whetzel.
Riggle blocked a volley, but Rinker made a save before Riggle finished off the set with a kill for the Lady Cougars 25-21 second set win.
It continued to be a close battle in the third set with nine ties before the Lady Yellow Jackets gained a little separation for a 25-19 win.
“The difference between Moorefield and us tonight was that they played a cleaner game and had less mistakes than we did. We were ready to play, but they out-executed us. Lindsey Rinker is a really good player and she touched a lot of balls tonight and we didn’t want that to happen. They have a ton of good athletes over there and a good team. That is the best Moorefield team I have seen in the past 10-12 years of helping. We do worry more about our side of the net and what we can do to improve us. We are better than we were in the beginning but our consistency has to improve to be where we need to be,” East Hardy Volleyball assistant coach Chris Hahn noted.
These volleyball players kept their stamina up making aggressive plays at the net and saves on the floor.
Early in the set, there were digs by East Hardy’s Perry Whetzel and Moorefield’s Madison McGregor and Sydney Hardy.
A couple of points came off deflections on Hinkle’s attacks for the Lady Yellow Jackets, but a couple errors on volleys from Carlson and O’Neill kept the set tied.
East Hardy took a 4-2 lead on an attack by Riggle plus an ace from Rebecca Whetzel.
Riggle made a block, but the Lady Cougars were penalized for four hits on the sequence before Riggle notched a spike.
Simmons made a dig on a serve from Dyer, then Hinkle’s attack was met with a dig by Perry Whetzel.
Whetzel notched another dig and Fleshman’s attack was fielded on a dig by O’Neill before an attack by Hardy sailed wide, 6-4.
Hunt’s dig off a serve from Riggle landed for a point, then Carlson’s attack was deflected off a dig by Ames tying the set, 6-all.
Ames made a save off an attack by McGregor and Miller redirected the volley for a spike, then the Lady Cougars found the net on a serve.
After an attack by Miller, Hinkle’s attack was returned out following a dig by Fleshman.
Rinker delivered a pair of aces giving the Lady Yellow Jackets an 11-9 lead.
East Hardy tied the set at 13-all on a spike from Yates, then Hinkle’s attack ricocheted off the Lady Cougars.
McGregor notched a point on a kill before a serve by Hinkle into the net.
East Hardy tied the set again on an ace by Riggle and took the lead 16-15 on a kill from Fleshman.
Hardy recorded a spike and her ensuing serve was returned out of play as Moorefield regained the lead, 17-16.
Rinker and McGregor’s attacks were redirected into the net, then McGregor’s serve was met with four touches, 20-17.
East Hardy earned two more points on kills from Rebecca Whetzel and Miller before an attack by Hinkle was met with a dig by Fleshman and Miller’s save attempt was passed to Fleshman landing the ball into the net as Moorefield claimed the 25-19 win in the third set.
Miller’s serve to commence the fourth set was met on a dig by Simmons and landed in the net for the Lady Cougars first point before the next serve hit the net.
Moorefield’s Anna Riggleman had an attack deflected back into the net for a 4-3 lead, then Rinker made a dig on an attack by Riggle and McGregor created a spike.
East Hardy’s Perry Whetzel made a dig on a serve by Riggleman, then Hardy made a kill.
Riggleman served an ace and the next serve was returned into the net as Moorefield went up 10-3.
The Lady Yellow Jackets returned attacks from Riggle into the net as East Hardy chipped away at the deficit.
After a kill by Hardy, East Hardy answered with two spikes by Fleshman and a serve from Fleshman was returned out, 12-8.
Riggle made a block for the Lady Cougars later in the set for a 14-11 score.
A dig save by Rebecca Whetzel off a block by Riggle was returned by Hardy for a kill.
During O’Neill’s serve, East Hardy earned a point on a spike from Yates.
Ames had a serve return into then net, then both teams made a couple of errors.
On Hardy’s serve, Yates made a save along the bench area and Miller launched an attack only to have it blocked by Rinker as the Lady Yellow Jackets went up 19-14.
A couple of attacks by McGregor were returned out of play.
Fleshman and Simmons served into the net as the score stood at 24-18.
Moorefield finished the match on a smashing spike from Hinkle and celebrated with high-fives, 25-18 and 3-1.
The Lady Yellow Jackets visited Petersburg yesterday and travel to the Buckhannon-Upshur Tournament this Saturday, then finishes the regular season on the road at Keyser (Oct. 29) and Elkins (Oct. 30).
[/private]The Lady Cougars host Hampshire and Calvary Christian for senior night tomorrow and caps off the regular season at Frankfort next Wednesday.