Class AAA Hampshire marched into Baker attacking the Class A Lady Cougars with a straight set match victory during senior night last Thursday: 25-20, 25-22 and 25-21.
East Hardy JV started the night with a match win over the Lady Trojans by the scores of 25-23 and 25-12.
“The only consistent thing we’ve done all season is be unpredictable. We play really well for a short period of time, then we don’t and that gives us more work to do. Our scores were better and almost double better than our scrimmage, so I am proud of that. We still had too many save-received errors. I am proud of my seniors and their hard work,” East Hardy Volleyball coach Marsha Hahn stated.[private]
The Lady Cougars honored their three seniors prior to the varsity match with flowers and gifts: Jaden Fleshman, Rebecca Whetzel and Emily Yates.
Jaden Fleshman:
Future plans include attending Potomac State College to obtain a degree in equine production and agriculture.
Academic achievements and organizations: Superior Honor Roll, a member of the National Honor Society, Future Farmers Association and Spanish Club.
Athletic career participation was in three sports all four years: volleyball, basketball and track.
Rebecca Whetzel:
Future plans are to attend college to major in Biology and become a Physician’s Assistant.
Academic achievements and organizations: EHHS class president, FFA vice president, NHS treasurer, Spanish Club secretary, Student Council member, Fellowship of Christian Athletes member and Superior Honor Roll.
Athletic career participation was in three sports played all four years: volleyball, basketball and softball.
Emily Yates:
Future plans include attending West Virginia University to major in criminology, then attending law school.
Academic achievements and organizations: NHS, Spanish Club, FFA president, 4-H Club president, EHHS class secretary, NSHSC member and 2019 W.Va. Beef Queen.
Athletic career participation: volleyball for four years, boys basketballs statistician for three years, softball for four years.
East Hardy senior Rebecca Whetzel started the match against the Lady Trojans serving with a return attack by Madison Mathias defended by senior Emily Yates before Erin Riggle created a kill for the initial lead.
The next attack by the Lady Cougars went out of bounds, then Yates made a dig on a serve by Hampshire’s Lainee Selan.
An attack by Hampshire’s Renee Killough was returned into the net by Yates, then Selan delivered an ace to take a 3-1 lead.
Riggle and Yates made blocks, then Emily Dyer made a save with the ball coming back on a spike by Killough.
A serve by Selan was returned out of bounds then an attack by Yates hit the net and Selan added an ace for a 7-1 advantage.
East Hardy garnered a point on a spike by Yates to make it 8-2 in the opening set.
Hampshire’s Corin Brinker created a point on an attack ricocheting off a Lady Cougars player, then Faith Watts made a kill before the ensuing serve landed in the net, 10-3.
East Hardy’s Victoria Ames and Erin Riggle made digs, but there were errors landing in the net on both sides as the score stood at 12-4.
Hampshire’s Kaley McDermitt served a pair of aces sandwiching a kill by Killough.
East Hardy senior Jaden Fleshman served in play and made a kill moments later.
Riggle made a save off a block by Whetzel, then SierraMarie Miller notched a spike.
Fleshman delivered four consecutive aces for the Lady Cougars to cut the deficit to 15-11.
Fleshman made a dig on an attack by McDermitt, but East Hardy had a volley swallowed by the net.
Miller made a kill and Perry Whetzel recorded a dig to keep the rally going, 16-12.
After a couple of errors on both sides, Riggle made a kill.
An attack by Riggle was blocked by Killough, then Dyer launched an attack and it was returned out of bounds, 19-15.
Hampshire (16-6-2) took a 23-16 lead on kills by Emilia Smith and Maison Mathias plus a handful of blocks.
A push attack by Fleshman was returned into the net, then an attack by Smith went awry as the Lady Cougars (14-16-1) chipped away at the lead.
A serve by Riggle was redirected into the net, but the ensuing serve went out for a 24-19 score.
Yates garnered a spike, but the final set point came on a service error giving the Lady Trojans a 25-20 win.
“We finally started passing a little better, but unfortunately we didn’t have a very good serve percentage. We didn’t hit as much as we normally do, but we were able to pull out and were able to block more than normal and played deflections off the net which probably helped us. They [EHHS] are a very scrappy team. You can never count on a ball hitting the ground at East Hardy. They go after every ball and hustle. They never back down. We were a little bit taller than they were, but they were aggressive and wanted each point more,” Hampshire Volleyball coach Megan Fuller commented.
Whetzel recorded a kill to start the second set for East Hardy, then an attack by Killough deflected off a dig by Whetzel out of play.
Hampshire’s Lainee Selan served an ace, then the Lady Trojans had a volley sail awry.
Miller made a saving dig of an attack by Mathias, then Dyer passed to Riggle creating a point.
Dyers served up an ace to give the Lady Cougars a 4-2 lead.
The next serve went into the net, then Yates set for Riggle making an attack returned into the net.
East Hardy’s Perry Whetzel and Fleshman made saves on a wild attack sequence from Killough, then the next attack by the Lady Trojans went out
Ames made a dig and Fleshman blocked a volley to keep the momentum going for the Lady Cougars, 8-3.
Miller blocked a volley and Riggle made a dig on the play with it ricocheting backwards and Ames made a brilliant save that turned into a kill.
Miller found space on the floor for a spike an Riggle served an ace to give East Hardy an 11-3 advantage.
Mathias pushed an attack through a block attempt by Miller, then Riggle had an attack met with a dig by Brinker and the Lady Cougars hit the net.
Hampshire chipped away at the deficit as Smith landed a kill, Mathias served an ace and couple errors plus another ace from Ella Staley made it 12-10.
The Lady Trojans went up 15-13 on solid serves and kills from Brinker and Killough.
Rebecca Whetzel and Dyer notched points off attacks to tie the set.
Killough and Whetzel traded spikes, then Whetzel landed an ace to put East Hardy up 17-16.
There were four more times the set became tied with the last coming at 20-all on an attack by Miller.
Riggle and Fleshman added kills during that stretch.
Hampshire took the lead on a kill by Smith and an error by the Lady Cougars made it 22-20.
Miller recorded a block, but the Lady Trojans responded with a push kill from Brinker.
East Hardy’s Perry Whetzel turned a dig into a point and added another dig before Hampshire countered with a spike by Mathias.
A serve by Brinker was met on a dig by Fleshman, but the Lady Cougars volleyed out on the final set point 25-22.
Hampshire took a 6-1 lead in the third set with the help of some errors and kills from Mathias.
The Lady Cougars responded with an attack by Miller and gained another point on an error.
Yates served twice and both times the ball was returned into the net for a 7-5 score.
A block by Killough and a kill by Brinker put the Lady Trojans ahead 12-7.
Hampshire extended the lead to 16-9 before the Lady Cougars made a rally.
A serve by the Lady Trojans went out, then Whetzel served and there was a net violation on the return.
Miller created a kill for East Hardy to cut the deficit to 16-12.
After a kill by Mathias and block by Killough, Fleshman’s attack was returned into the net.
Perry Whetzel and Yates made digs and a save by Rebecca Whetzel turned into a point, 20-16.
Yates served an ace, but the next volley went out of bounds.
Rebecca Whetzel and Miller garnered spikes to pull within two points, 21-19.
After an East Hardy service error, Killough made a block and tapped the ball over for another point as the Lady Trojans took a 24-19 lead.
The Lady Cougars refused to stop fighting as Dyer and Riggle made spikes, but the final match point came on a kill from Selan for Hampshire’s 25-21/3-nil victory.
East Hardy finishes the regular season at Class AA Frankfort tonight and playoffs begin next week.[/private]