Cabell Midland’s Carley Brewster and Hedgesville’s Gracie Brown battle on the web throughout Saturday’s championship match of the Spookfest match held inside Parkersburg’s Memorial Fieldhouse. The Eagles knocked off the Knights by scores of 25-21, 22-25 and 15-10. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
PARKERSBURG — The finals of Saturday’s Spookfest match held inside Memorial Fieldhouse featured a showdown between top-ranked Hedgesville and No. 3 Cabell Midland, however the Class AAAA defending state champion Eagles managed to outlast the Knights 25-21, 22-25 and 15-10.
The host Big Reds, who had been the seven seed following pool play, eradicated No. 10 Wheeling Park 25-14 and 25-18 earlier than getting bounced within the quarterfinals by the Knights – 25-23 and 25-16.
James Monroe, which is ranked fifth by the coaches within the Class AA ballot, managed to outlive final yr’s double-A state champion and present fourth-ranked Philip Barbour by scores of 27-25, 21-25 and 19-17, however fell 25-18 and 25-20 to Cabell Midland within the semifinals.
No. 5 University took care of No. 4 Parkersburg South 25-20 and 25-22 solely to have its day come to a detailed by the hands of the Eagles within the semifinals – 25-17, 23-25 and 15-6.
Last yr’s Class AAA runner-up Herbert Hoover took care of No. 9 Greenbrier East 16-25, 25-21 and 25-7 earlier than the No. 8 seed misplaced a tricky 25-18, 16-25 and 15-12 match to Hedgesville within the quarters.
Parkersburg’s Calista Mace (6) and Kennedy Porter (18) go up for a double block throughout Saturday’s Spookfest match versus Wheeling Park inside Memorial Fieldhouse. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
“We have a large group of seniors, like 10 seniors, so they just kind of went into today like ‘hey this is our last tournament. This is our last one on a Saturday. Let’s go out, have fun and play for each other.’ I think that’s what they did,” stated Hedgesville head coach Allison Whitford, a former all-state standout at Tyler Consolidated.
“We love playing volleyball. We went to set three a couple different times today. We just like it. We do the same gameplan every single time we step on the court. Right now we’re just trying to get healthy. My right side was here with an injury and then one of our girls is sick at home with strep. One of our key contributors, too. We’re just trying to make everybody healthy.”
Eagle libero Alexa Smith had a finals match-high 4 aces whereas Parker Sutherland, Gracie Brown and Emmeri Bishop registered eight kills apiece.
Cabell Midland freshman Lyla Johnson put down a finals match-high 10 kills whereas Carley Brewster led the way in which with 24 assists. Elder sister Lucy Johnson had six downed spikes whereas Madison Mount and Madelyn Cooke had a quartet apiece.
“Thrilled to be here. We love coming to Parkersburg,” admitted CM head coach Emily Gaskins. “We’ve been wanting ahead to this match all yr, particularly as a result of we wished to see Hedgesville. This is our first time enjoying. They’ve gone forwards and backwards between primary and quantity two within the state and we’ve settled at quantity three. We’ve watched movie and we all know that they’re proficient. We’ve seen that, however we knew they had been beatable.
Parkersburg South’s Ashley Cross makes a cross as teammates Lexi Smith and libero Natalie Lauer look on throughout Saturday’s Spookfest match at Memorial Fieldhouse. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
“I would’ve loved to have that match, for sure, but I’m looking forward to seeing them at states. Overall I’m happy with their performance. I’m super proud of Lyla Johnson. She’s a freshman outside. She stepped up in a big way today. I’m super proud of her. The future is bright. Definitely exciting. Again, mostly good, and I’m happy with their performance. We definitely could’ve made some improvements I think. We know what we need to work on now.”
Consecutive aces by Ady Seymour gave the Eagles an early 7-6 cushion within the opening set of the ultimate, however the Knights pushed forward 12-9 following a Lucy Johnson block of Bishop.
Despite having it tied at 20-all because of a Cooke kill, a Knight assault error gave the Eagles the lead for good and Sutherland’s kill by way of one among Gillian Sykes’ 11 assists closed out the set.
Brynn Ward’s dig that went throughout the web and dropped put the Knights forward 8-4 in set two. Following a kill by Brewster, Ward served up an ace for a 10-4 edge as coach Whitford referred to as timeout.
Hedgesville closed it to 11-10 because of a double block by Sutherland and Savannah Parker, which led to a timeout from coach Gaskins. Consecutive aces from Smith put the defending state champs up 13-11, however a Jaycee Bowen ace later tied it at 15.
University’s Braylee Sparks (15) celebrates with teammates following some extent throughout Saturday’s Spookfest match at Parkersburg’s Memorial Fieldhouse. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
Squared at 20, libero Jillian Yost served for 2 straight factors to provide the Knights the lead for good as a service error by the Eagles pressured the decisive third set.
Katie Lawson’s solo block of Sutherland had set three even at three and it was nonetheless even at 5 following a Mount kill, however a service error adopted to provide the Eagles the lead for good.
A kill by Bishop after which an ace from Smith made it 9-6. Hedgesville earned its closing two factors on a pair of assault errors.
Parkersburg head coach Tammy Fisher’s squad trailed the Knights 7-0 within the first set, however rallied behind the serving of libero Brenan Harvey. The Big Reds trimmed the deficit to 18-15 following a kill by Calista Mace and the hosts finally tied it at 22 following a Kennedy Porter ace and an Ava Sayre downed spike.
Although it was once more tied at 23, Lucy Johnson bought level 24 on a kill and a PHS assault error ended the set.
Hedgesville head coach Allison Whitford talks to her group throughout a timeout at Saturday’s Spookfest match inside Parkersburg’s Memorial Fieldhouse. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
PHS led early at 4-2 in set two after a kill by Chloe Gribble and it was 9-6 Big Reds because of an ace by Kelina Utietiang. However, back-to-back aces by Ward evened issues at 9 and the Knights went forward for good after incomes the subsequent level on an within the web name.
Lawson’s ace bought the Knights to match level, which she earned by way of a Lucy Johnson kill.
“Those runs. They have a hard time stopping those runs, but there were a couple times where I had three freshmen out there on the court,” admitted coach Fisher, whose squad remains to be going by way of roster modifications. “I can’t complain in any respect. They’ve carried out very well. They are getting higher and higher and higher, and that’s what it’s all about. Cabell is an efficient group. They are coached effectively and so they can hit. They are superb.
“People don’t realize how young we are. I’m not upset. When we were doing our lineups I said ‘how many have we had this year because of injuries or people not finishing out the season’ so I can’t complain for us to be where we are at with all the stuff that’s happened. We don’t like to lose, but they are practice games really. The schedule we’ve had has been one of the toughest ones. I’m proud of them. Just keep swimming.”
Contact Jay Bennett at [email protected]