No. 5 Ritchie County slayed the No. 4 Lady Yellow Jackets in four sets at the Class A state volleyball quarterfinals held at the Charleston Civic Center last Friday morning: 25-17, 25-12, 20-25, 25-20.
The Lady Rebels advanced to the state semifinals and lost to eventual state champion Wirt County.
Moorefield’s opponent was familiar having lost a tiebreaker in the Ravenswood Rumble championship match against Ritchie County early in the season.
“Any form of victory is a special victory, especially when you get that 8:30 a.m. time slot. We worked hard all week and had a couple morning practices to prepare for getting up. We started quick and Moorefield fought hard to get that victory in the third set. We fell behind in that set and couldn’t come back. Obviously, we are better when we play with a lead,” Ritchie County coach Matt Carpenter noted.
“We’re really excited to get this [private]victory at the state tournament. We have been down here a lot and so has Moorefield, but we missed out last year and it stung. We were excited to get here coming through Tyler Consolidated and Magnolia which are two great teams and we wanted to represent our side very well. We watched the game film from Ravenswood, but that was two weeks into the season and no team is the same now compared to where they were back at the beginning of the year. I definitely could see some improvements from them and they have very athletic girls, so this was a good victory for us. We didn’t have many service errors, but our net play was big and we had some blocks at time. Rebekah Rupert is a freshman and she led us in kills this year. She is going to be a great player and still learning.”
Ritchie County’s Rebekah Rupert opened the scoring with a spike in the first set.
Another attack by Rupert was defended on a dig by Moorefield’s Remington Hinkle, then Lindsey Rinker set for Gracie O’Neill launching an attack which was returned into the net to tie the set, 1-all.
Andrea Kirk made a block against Hinkle, then the Lady Rebels served out of play.
Rupert recorded a kill, then Moorefield’s Anna Riggleman made a dig and Alyson Simmons slammed the ball to tie the set again at 3-all.
A serve from Hinkle was returned out by the Lady Rebels, then Riggleman made a dig off an attack by Haidyn DePinho which didn’t clear the net.
Ritchie County’s Presley Johnson made a kill after an attack by Moorefield’s Madison McGregor was saved by Brianna Jones.
The Lady Rebels were whistled for a violation on an attack by McGregor, then Moorefield took a 6-5 lead as Sydney Hardy garnered a spike.
Ritchie County regained the lead on kills from Kaelynn Ireland and Johnson, 7-6.
A block by Rinker was corralled by the Lady Rebels, then Ireland denied a volley.
McGregor made a saving dig off a block, then Ritchie County answered with points by Ireland and two aces by Katelyn Lambert to go up 11-6.
Hardy’s attack was blocked by Johnson, but a violation at the net was called on Moorefield.
McGregor and O’Neill swatted spikes before a timeout, then Hardy made a dig coming out of a timeout with Rinker setting up O’Neill for another attack.
Ritchie County took an 18-11 advantage on attack points by Ireland, Rupert, Lambert and an ace by Ashley Davis.
O’Neill and DePinho traded kills, then Hinkle and DePinho swapped spikes and Ritchie County held a 23-14 lead.
A volley by the Lady Rebels went out, then Simmons notched a service point for Moorefield.
The Lady Yellow Jackets (31-8) earned points on spikes by Hardy and McGregor closing the gap, 23-17.
Ritchie County’s Presley Johnson met resistance at the net by Moorefield’s Sydney Hardy, but forced the ball over.
A volley went awry for the Lady Yellow Jackets as Ritchie County took the first set 25-17.
“The first two games we came out and dropped them pretty fast. We played with a lot of nerves. We came into game three and realized it was do or die and we had to kick it in and do it,” Moorefield coach Morgan Hill-See remarked.
“They kicked it in and did it, then in game four it went back and forth and we made mistakes that we couldn’t make up for later on in the match and dropped it right there. The girls were excited to make this trip. We had a great season and you can’t take that away from them. We had a totally different outcome down here than we expected, but the girls came down and battled. Ritchie County was fast, hitting those shots you saw that we couldn’t react to and the balls fall where we can’t account for.”
The Lady Rebels stormed ahead 10-1 in the second set of the state quarterfinals.
After an attack by McGregor was returned out for a Lady Yellow Jackets point, Ritchie County made the run starting with a kill and block by Andrea Kirk.
A handful of errors and three kills by Rupert plus a point from Kirk put the Lady Rebels ahead 10-1.
During that stretch, Moorefield’s Hardy, Riggleman and Rinker made digs, while Simmons made two great saves.
Ritchie County had a volley sail out of bounds, then McGregor served for the Lady Yellow Jackets with Riggleman making a save an O’Neill notched a dig off an attack by Jones.
O’Neill recorded a spike for Moorefield, but the Lady Reels answered with a kill by Kirk and an ace served by Jones, 12-3.
Simmons made a block and Hardy garnered a kill for a 14-5 score, then an attack by Ritchie County’s Rupert was returned into the net.
There was a violation called on the Lady Rebels during a volley, then Riggleman and Kayla Holbrook served out of play on both sides.
Moorefield’s Hanna Carlsons served, but the Lady Rebels earned a point off an attack by DePinho and Lambert’s serve was returned out and Johnson made a block for a 19-7 lead.
An attack by Hardy was carried by Ritchie County, then Moorefield’s Sterling Kump served into the net.
McGregor made a block, but it was saved by the Lady Rebels before O’Neill and Kirk traded kills for a 21-11 score.
An attack by Rupert was blocked out of bounds by Hinkle for the second set point going to Ritchie County, 25-12.
The Lady Yellow Jackets took a 6-3 lead in the third set of the quarterfinals.
Rupert’s attack was blocked out by O’Neill for a point to start the set, then the ensuing serve sailed out.
Digs by Hardy and Rinker on a volleys from Kirk and DePinho deflected out as Ritchie County went up 3-1 prior to the Lady Yellow Jackets rally.
O’Neill tapped the ball over for a kill, then served up three points as the Lady Rebels had initial volleys go awry and Hardy landed a spike to put Moorefield ahead 6-3.
There were some errors on both sides and two spikes by Hardy and one from Riggleman as Moorefield went up 10-6.
McGregor made a block and it was saved by Rinker, then Ritchie County’s Kaelynn Ireland hit the ball out of play prior to recording a spike, 11-7.
McGregor launched an attack which was returned into the net, then Hardy made a dig and Rinker set O’Neill for a kill, and a serve by McGregor was hit back into the net, 14-7.
Hardy and Simmons made digs on attacks by Rupert, then Kirk found an opening for a Lady Rebels kill.
A point was earned for the Lady Yellow Jackets on a block by O’Neill, 15-9.
Rupert created a point off an attack, then there was serving violation and Moorefield started serving.
Simmons kept the volleys alive at the net, then Hinkle blocked a shot by Rupert into the net.
Ritchie County closed the gap to 19-18 on seem errors and kills by DePhinho and Ireland plus a block by Ireland.
A serve by Ritchie County’s Catherine Jones was returned into the net, then Moorefield’s Kaleigh Hunt served and Rinker created a point off an attack during the serve.
Hinkle created a point on an attack and the Lady Rebels had a violation going under the net on a swing, then RInker served up an ace.
Rinker finished off the set serving with Ritchie County returning the ball out of play twice as Moorefield claimed the third set victory 25-20.
The Lady Yellow Jackets garnered a 7-3 lead in the fourth set which included three kills by Hinkle and an ace served by O’Neill.
Simmons attempt to block Rupert went out of bounds, then Carlson notched a block on Johnson and the next volley by the Lady Rebels went awry prior to a spike by Hardy giving Moorefield a 10-4 advantage.
Ritchie County rallied to tie the set at 11-all as DePinho and Ireland made kills, plus Johnson blocked a volley and Holbrook served an ace.
A few errors and a spike by Johnson put the Lady Rebels had 15-12.
Moorefield responded with a pair of kills by McGregor and an error on a volley to tie the set.
Simmons and McGregor made digs during that stretch.
Ireland made a block and Rupert added a kill and point pushing through a block by O’Neill to give Ritchie County an 18-15 lead.
O’Neill made a dig, then Simmons and Hinkle made saves on attack by Rupert.
McGregor landed a spike and served up a point as the Lady Yellow Jackets made it 18-17.
Riggleman and Hinkle made kills for Moorefield, but Ritchie County held the lead at 21-19.
An attack by DePinho was blocked out of play by Hinkle, then Rinker made a dig and Hinkle launched an attack which was returned for a point by Rupert.
Rupert landed two kills to finish the match as Ritchie County eliminated the Lady Yellow Jackets in the fourth set 25-20, 3-1.[/private]