By Stephen Smoot
After a slew of legal issues temporarily delayed the state of the Class A West Virginia state volleyball tournament, girls from eight squads were relieved to take the court of competition instead of the court of law.
Pendleton County took a four seed into the tournament, earning them a game against Wetzel County’s Magnolia. The team from New Martinsville featured some star players who brought exceptional athleticism to the contest. Madison Day, Wildcat head coach, preached a strategy of distributing the ball evenly amongst all the players, pitting a team concept against the shining stars.
The teams traveled hours from the two panhandles to tangle at 8:30 on a frosty cold Monday morning on the campus of West Virginia State University in Institute. With only Class A competing on a single court, the tournament had a more intimate and player and fan friendly environment.
And the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission did its best to provide a special and exciting environment for the girls.
Magnolia took the first serve in the first set. Lizzie Alt fielded the serve, sending it to Emma Hartman. She returned it to Alt, who aimed a shot to the middle of the defense, scoring the first point. A Baylee Beachler block and a Brynlynn Waggy set off an Alt tap gave the Wildcats an early 3-0 lead.
Pendleton County built a 5-1 lead before Magnolia showed its strengths. The Blue Eagles outscored the Wildcats five to two to pull within 7-6, before Emily Poling set up an Avery Townsend spike to set the score at 8-6.
Poling, along with Hartman, Aubree Keiter, and others, patrolled the back line effectively. They did well to adjust to the strong service game of Magnolia and set up other players nicely.
Magnolia pulled within one again at 10-9 by serving an ace, but then Pendleton County scored nine of the next 10. Alyssa Bennett fired two aces off the fists of opposing players in the run. On another play, Keiter fielded a ball that Waggy set up for an Alt spike.
Pendleton County went on to take the first set 25-18.
Bennett kicked off the second set with a serve. Beachler scored off of it with a block, followed by a Wildcat ace for a 2-0 lead.
Magnolia, however, took the momentum from there. They combined line drive “feast or famine” type serving that was either tough for the back line to field or sailed out of bounds. Luck favored Magnolia in their serving in this set.
The Blue Eagles also got opportunities to use their style of spiking to great effect. To avoid the height and athleticism on the Wildcat line, Magnolia’s front line angled spikes toward the right sideline instead of the middle of the court. Precision power shots for a time got the best of the Pendleton County defense and Magnolia at one point led 20-7.
Interestingly St. Mary’s High School, which is not geographically far from Magnolia, used the same tactic to temporarily knock East Hardy off balance before they, too prevailed in the first round.
Magnolia dominated the set, running away with a 25-13 win, forcing Day to make adjustments in position and placement.
Magnolia served first in set number three, but Beachler blocked the play for the first point. Bennett then served to start a volley which ended when Waggy redirected a ball to the back line of the Blue Eagles. Another Beachler block put the lead at 3-0 to start the set.
Once again, the Blue Eagles took flight after an early Wildcat lead. They surged to a 10-9 lead before Beachler and Waggy combined for a block to knot the contest at 10. Bennett took the serve and promptly delivered an ace to seize the lead back for her squad.
Magnolia stole the lead back and pushed it out to two, leading 14-12 then 15-13. Waggy took the serve and scored two aces, the second glancing off an opponent’s hands. Magnolia spiked for the next score, taking a 16-15 lead, but Townsend came right back with a block at the net to tie the game again.
Townsend shortly after took the serve down 18-17, but tied the game on an ace that barely cleared the net and dropped like a major league curveball. Hartman aimed a shot at the middle to get a 19-18 advantage for her team.
Magnolia continued to fall short late in the set. Bennett closed it out with two straight aces to win it 25-22.
In the fourth set, the teams battled fiercely. This time, the Blue Eagles took an early 2-0, then 3-1 lead.
Callie Judy shortly thereafter stepped up to serve and took the lead for the Wildcats 4-3 after scoring two consecutive aces.
The teams kept punching and counter-punching, a sense of urgency driving both. Magnolia tied the game at seven after a Wildcat error. Pendleton County, however, took the lead back 8-7 with Beachler nearly prone on the floor somehow tapping the ball up and over the net. The stunned Magnolia players watched it drop quickly to the floor.
The Blue Eagles wrested the lead back at 9-8, but Beachler blasted a Waggy set into the heart of the defense to tie the set at nine.
It looked like Magnolia might force the game to a fifth set for a time. They jumped ahead by two at 17-15 on the strength of an ace. Not long after, they took their biggest lead of set number four, 19-16.
Day then called a timeout to settle her squad. Next, Magnolia served but Pendleton County scored when Judy set up a Townsend spike. The next volley ended and the score was tied at 18 when Bennett tapped the ball to the left sideline off the fists of a defender.
Townsend took the lead back for good when she scored a service ace. Beachler extended the lead to two when she spiked the ball off of a defender.
Pendleton County took a commanding 23-19 lead when an Alt return found nothing but floor. Magnolia, refusing to lose quietly, scored two more, but a Waggy shot closed out the set 25 to 23 and the game three sets to one.
East Hardy, after defeating St. Mary’s, earned a second round game against the Wildcats at 6:30 p.m. the same day. The Cougars defeated the Wildcats to earn the right to move on and compete for the title on Tuesday.
