East Hardy Volleyball utilized good service accuracy to bounce the Lady Wildcats out of the Class A Region II Section 2 semifinal playoff match in straight sets in Baker on Monday: 25-4, 25-14 and 25-11.
The Lady Cougars advanced to the Class A Region II Section 2 championship on Tuesday against Moorefield with the victory, while the Lady Yellow Jackets beat Paw Paw in the other semifinal by a match score of 25-10, 25-16 and 25-12 with both teams earning an automatic berth in the Class A Region II Tournament at Doddridge County on Saturday.
“It was really special. It was nice to today, because everything seemed to click. Thank goodness, it is now or never,” East Hardy coach Ashley Taylor remarked.
“Everything worked really well today and hopefully we can carry that into tomorrow too. Our serves were awesome tonight and hopefully we don’t make any errors tomorrow like we did today. Specifically, Emily Yates did an awesome job serving today. Technically, we advance to the region tournament at Doddridge County.”
Emily Yates created 20 consecutive service points with six aces for the Lady Cougars in the opening set of the section semifinal en route to a 25-4 win.
East Hardy’s Jaden Fleshman started the set serving and the ball was sent back on an attack by Pendleton County’s Katelyn Scott which was returned into the net by Jessica Smith for the first point.
Yates garnered a kill to tie the set, then the serve by Smith was returned out of bounds.
An attack by Pendleton County’s Braeyn Tharp was met with a dig by East Hardy’s Perry Whetzel and the set from SierraMarie Miller was taken by Fleshman for an attack that sailed out of bounds.
Smith earned a point on an attack which wasn’t returned, then Yates started her accurate service streak.
An attack by Lady Wildcats’ Makenzie Arbaugh went awry, then East Hardy notched points on an ace by Yates and kill by Erin Riggle.
Miller launched an attack and it was redirected back into the net.
Riggle’s attack was met with a dig by Pendleton County before being bumped into the net.
After a timeout, Miller notched a point on a spike and an attack by Fleshman was returned out of bounds by Arbaugh.
Yates served an ace, then the next serve was deflected out of bounds on a dig attempt.
Four straight aces by Yates provided an 18-2 advantage for the Lady Cougars and the damage continued.
Digs by two Lady Wildcats couldn’t be corralled to return another Yates serve, then an attack by Riggle was deflected out of bounds.
Pendleton County’s Hannah Swigunski made a dig off Yates’ serve and an attack by Haley Moats was bumped up by Perry Whetzel and Victoria Ames set for Riggle sending the ball through a block for a point.
Yates had her serve returned into the net by the Lady Wildcats giving East Hardy a 22-2 lead, then Pendleton County broke the serve as Tharp notched a point bumping the ball to the back line.
During a serve by Tharp, the Lady Cougars were whistled for a hitting violation.
Smith made a dig on the next serve and Ames set for Miller to smash the ball.
An attack by Smith was sent off go Swigunski’s dig into the net to end the first set, 25-4.
East Hardy began the second set with a 12-nil lead with Miller serving.
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The initial point for the Lady Cougars came off a kill by Fleshman to break the serve of Pendleton County’s Kaley Sponaugle.
Miller sandwiched a pair of aces around a kill by Smith to grab a 4-0 edge.
Fleshman had two attacks returned out of bounds and made a spike as the momentum rolled.
A serve by Miller ricocheted back into the net and Fleshman found the back corner of the court for a kill.
Miller served up another ace, then an attack by Smith was deflected out of bounds for the 12-0 score.
The Lady Wildcats broke the cycle with a spike by Sponaugle, but East Hardy answered with one from Smith.
Blair served and Miller’s attack was returned into the net by Pendleton County’s Mariah Huffman.
Fleshman and Smith recorded kills, then Ames delivered an ace to build a 17-1 lead.
The Lady Wildcats libero managed to get a point with a dig bouncing back over the net.
Arbaugh and Huffman collided going for a pass, then East Hardy’s Emily Yates notched a save on the volley, then Arbaugh got a point as Miller and Fleshman collided bumping the ball to nobody.
The Lady Wildcats served up a point and added another on an error plus a kill by Huffman to cut the deficit to 17-6.
The next serve attempt went awry for Pendleton County and Fleshman took over on the service line for the Lady Cougars delivering an ace.
Smith knocked down a spike, but the Lady Wildcats answered with a kill by Tharp.
Tharp served up an ace, then the next serve was met with a dig by Ames and Miller’s shot was returned by Arbaugh which was overzealous reaching over the net to make the attack giving East Hardy the point.
Riggle notched a point off a block attempt by Arbaugh to put the Lady Cougars up 22-8.
Pendleton County made several more points moments later as Regan Sites made a spike and Arbaugh served a pair of aces.
Both teams had errors hitting the net, then Huffman served up an ace before an attack by Smith was returned out of bounds by Moats.
After an error on the serve, Fleshman smashed a kill off a set by Miller to finish the second set 25-14 in favor of East Hardy.
“We had a rough start on the first game, we struggled and didn’t play too well. We picked it up in the second game, but I think that first game got under our skin and it was hard to bounce back,” Pendleton County coach Cathy Bennett stated.
“East Hardy’s service accuracy hurt us in the beginning and we were finally able to get it together, but it was a little too late. The first game was under our skin and hard to recover from that. It was a building season for us with a young team and hopefully we will be back with a strong team next year.”
The Lady Cougars took a 3-0 lead in the third set starting with an ace by Miller, then a return by Pendleton County’s Katelyn Scott was too low and an attack by Fleshman was deflected out.
Moats launched an attack with Ames making a dig and Smith saving it near the bleachers before it was not redirected back over the net.
Arbaugh’s attack was spun into the net by the Lady Cougars for a 3-2 score.
Smith and Fleshman garnered spikes before Arbaugh blocked a volley by Fleshman.
After a serve into the net, East Hardy was back at the line with Fleshman delivering a two aces and Smith having an attack dug into the net.
Miller notched a point as two Lady Wildcats collided trying to bump the ball with it not clearing the net to put East Hardy ahead 11-3.
Arbaugh made a point off a dink and Tharp served an ace for Pendleton County before Riggle responded with three kills creating a 14-5 score.
After an errant volley, the Lady Cougars recorded six straight points including kills by Miller, Riggle and Ames plus an ace by Fleshman, 20-6.
Pendleton County scored the next four points as the Lady Cougars had a serve go out, then a block by Miller was initially saved and hit back by Sites with another block landing into the net, an attack by Moats was returned into the net and a serve by Sponaugle was redirected into the net.
Fleshman’s attack was met with a dig by Pendleton County’s Emma Thompson and saved by Chloe Miller before being bumped into the net by Huffman.
Miller served an ace to put the Lady Cougars up 23-10.
The Lady Wildcats recorded one last point as Moats made a kill.
An attack by Fleshman ricocheted off a dig by Chloe Miller and East Hardy closed the match with an ace from Ames for the semifinal victory, 25-11.
The Lady Cougars met Moorefield in the sectional championship and both represent Hardy County at the Region II Tournament this weekend in Doddridge County.
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