The Lady Yellow Jackets are the new queens of the Hardy County courts winning the Class A Region II Section 2 Volleyball championship after dethroning East Hardy’s reign for 12 seasons in straight sets last Tuesday in Moorefield: 25-14, 25-9 and 28-26.
Moorefield’s last section championship was in 2003, the same season becoming the region champion.
“That’s what we’ve done, years of working at it. It’s a great accomplishment. A goal that our team set at the beginning of the year, one they wanted to accomplish and that they did,” Moorefield coach Morgan Hill See remarked.
“The first two sets were so-so, then East Hardy came out in the third set and we battled it out towards the end. It was a great set. It goes back to the same thing, we have two teams from Hardy County going out to the region to represent our area. That’s always awesome and it says a lot about our area. For our girls, it is exciting for our two seniors. We hope it is our time that we are starting to gel and we can make somewhat of a run here.”
Pendleton County won the section titles in 2001, 2002, 2004 and 2005 before the Lady Cougars took the championship over in a dynasty stretching from 2006 to 2017.
Both Hardy County teams advanced to the Region II Tournament held at Doddridge County for the fifth consecutive year with hopes of returning to the state tournament.
In the opening set of the section championship, the Lady Yellow Jackets built a 4-1 lead before East Hardy equalized it and Moorefield responded scoring seven straight points to go up 11-4.
East Hardy’s Jaden Fleshman started the first set serving and there were good volleys back and forth before Moorefield’s Alyssa Vetter found an opening for a kill off an assist from Lindsey Rinker.
During Rinker’s serve, East Hardy’s Jessica Smith returned the ball and Hanna Carlson’s attack landed in the net.
Smith served and Moorefield’s Sydney Hardy made a dig with Rinker setting for Vetter, then Fleshman passed to SierraMarie Miller setting for Erin Riggle making an attack for the Lady Cougars and Anna Riggleman made a dig with Rinker finding Vetter for a spike.
Rebekah Markwood made a push attack for a point and forced another volley through Miller’s block attempt to create the 4-1 edge.
The Lady Cougars responded with kills by Riggle sandwiching an ace by Emily Yates to even the set at 4-all.
Markwood created two points including one push returned into the net.
An attack by Markwood was saved by East Hardy’s Perry Whetzel, but the attack by Fleshman went awry.
Carlson delivered an ace and the next serve was returned out of bounds by Victoria Ames.
Moorefield’s Remington Hinkle launched an attack and it was returned into the net by Riggle before a timeout was called with the Lady Yellow Jackets ahead 10-4.
After the break, Carlson served another ace to extend the lead.
Hinkle’s volley was blocked by Riggle to give East Hardy a point.
Markwood made a push point during the serve by Riggle, then Sydney Hardy went to the service line for the Lady Yellow Jackets with the ball sent back into the net.
East Hardy hit the net on an attack by Markwood, then Hinkle’s shot went out of bounds.
Smith notched a point during a volley as a Moorefield defender touched the net.
There was no return on two serves by Markwood with one hitting the ceiling.
Smith’s shot was blocked by Hinkle, but the next volley was a spike for a 17-8 score.
There was a service error by Ames and an attack by Carlson returned into the net, then Riggleman’s volley went wide and the Lady Cougars had another service error from Fleshman land in the net, 20-9.
Rinker’s serve was returned out of bounds by Miller, then Vetter had an attack sail past the back line.
Riggle blocked a volley by Vetter, then Riggle’s attack created a point as Vetter reached over the net, 21-12.
Markwood had two shots returned into the net, then other went out of bounds.
Riggle sent a volley which was retuned into the net, then Carlson and Markwood had volleys met with digs by East Hardy’s Ames and Smith before Riggle’s tap over the net went just out of bounds on the final set point, 25-14.
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The Lady Yellow Jackets took a 6-nil advantage to commence the second set as Riggleman made a dig save off a volley by Smith and it ricocheted back into the net.
Carlson and Vetter had attacks met with digs by East Hardy’s Miller, then Carlson located the floor for a spike.
A dig by Miller went out of bounds on an attack by Vetter, then Riggleman served up two aces with the next serve returned out of bounds by Fleshman, 6-0.
A block by Smith on Vetter gave the Lady Cougars their first point of the second set.
A service error by Fleshman put Moorefield back in control, but only temporarily as Smith notched a kill.
The ensuing serve by Smith went out of bounds, then an attack by Markwood created a point as the Lady Cougars touched the net.
Riggle smashed the ball for a kill and blocked a volley by Markwood which was touched twice by the Lady Yellow Jackets for a 9-4 score.
Hinkle’s attack was met with a dig by Yates and deflected out of bounds prior to a timeout.
An attack by Riggle was bumped out by Moorefield’s Madison McGregor, then Riggle’s serve hit the net.
Markwood served an ace and Vetter made a kill to create a 12-5 lead.
Vetter launched the ball out of bounds and Fleshman’s attack was returned into the net.
Hinkle and Rinker created points off attacks, then Riggleman served an ace and Carlson notched two kills for an 18-7 Lady Yellow Jackets advantage.
Smith had an attack blocked out of bounds by Rinker, then Rinker scored a point off an attack.
Markdown and Carlson made points off attacks before Vetter served an ace.
The set point was made as Markwood’s attack was met with a dig by East Hardy’s Perry Whetzel and returned into the net, 25-9.
The third set featured six ties and lasted the longest with a battle going into extra points for a 28-26 final score.
East Hardy took the early 5-1 advantage maintained the lead until the Lady Yellow Jackets took a 14-13 lead held until it was tied up again at 19-all.
Fleshman commenced the third set serving and the ball was returned out of bounds by Vetter.
Vetter’s next attack was met with a dig by Smith and saved by Fleshman.
Fleshman made a dig on a volley by Vetter moments later which ricocheted back into the net.
Rinker served and Smith created a point as the ball deflected off Markwood.
Riggle’s attack was blocked by Vetter and saved by Miller, then a serve by Smith was returned into the net on attack by Carlson.
Smith served an ace to give East Hardy a 5-1 edge.
An attack by Vetter was met with a dig by Smith and Riggle redirected the ball into the net.
Markwood’s attack was scooped up by Ames and was too low to be lifted over the net.
The next attack by Markwood smile out of bounds.
The Lady Cougars went up 8-3 as Yates served an ace and Smith smashed the ball for a spike, but the ensuing serve landed in the net.
Hinkle had a volley blocked out of bounds by Riggle, then found the floor on the next attack to cut the deficit to 8-6.
Riggle’s shot was sent back out of bounds by Hinkle, then Miller notched a point on an attack.
Riggle served an ace and Fleshman’s volley was returned out of bounds.
After a serve went awry, Moorefield’s Sydney Hardy delivered three aces for a 12-10 score.
A dig by Hardy went into the net off an attack by Fleshman, then Smith hit the net on a volley.
Markwood served an ace and Hinkle’s shot was redirected out of bounds to knot the set at 13-all.
Riggle made a dig on Markwood’s serve and it went into the net, then Markwood garnered an ace for a 15-13 edge.
Smith notched a kill for the Lady Cougars, then Vetter’s attack was returned into the net by Smith.
Riggleman delivered an ace for the Lady Yellow Jackets and an attack by Carlson wasn’t returned for an 18-14 lead.
Moorefield hit the net, then Smith crushed a pair of spikes and two attacks by Riggle were returned into the net as East Hardy tied the set at 19-all.
Three errors off attacks by Markwood and Carlson put the Lady Yellow Jackets up 22-19, then Riggle and Markwood made kills.
A serve by Carlson was returned out of bounds and the next serve went awry for a 24-21 score.
The Lady Cougars gained momentum as Riggles served two aces around a timeout, then Fleshman tied the set at 24-all with an attack that was deflected out of bounds.
East Hardy took a 25-24 lead as Riggle delivered another ace, then the next one hit the net.
Hardy served for Moorefield and Smith made a kill to regain the edge off an assist from Miller.
Smith made several attacks which were met with digs by Hardy, Markwood and Gracie O’Neill.
The Lady Yellow Jackets tied the set on a kill by Riggleman off a set by Rinker.
Markwood’s serve was returned out of bounds, then the set point was a tap by Vetter which was redirected into the net for the 28-26 final score for the Moorefield match victory.
Moorefield and East Hardy look to extend the season this weekend at Doddridge County in the Region II Tournament.
The Lady Yellow Jackets have been the section runner-up six times since winning it back in 2003, while East Hardy won the titles the past dozen seasons before Moorefield claimed the crown on Tuesday.
The Lady Cougars have played in the Region II Tournament every season dating back to 2002, while Moorefield is making its eighth trip.
East Hardy has been to the state tournament nine times in the past decade including trips as the Region II champions the last three seasons, while the Lady Yellow Jackets have been to the state tournament the past four years and was the Region II champion in 2014.
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