By Stephen Smoot
As spectators came to see the surging Wildcat varsity volleyball take on Highland High School, they were treated to one of the rarest spectacles in sports.
More rare than a perfect game in baseball.
More rare than an unassisted triple play in the same sport.
More rare than a condor in golf (scoring four under par.)
Carolyn Varner started serving the first junior varsity set. Twenty-five serves later, she was still slicing and dicing the Highland defense, ending the set with a 25-0 score. Highland could neither score a point, nor even wrest the serve from her capable hands.
Coach Rod Cooper said later “I’ve never seen a server put up 25 in a row like that. That was a super nice job.”
Varner’s performance set the table for a night of dominance by both the junior varsity and varsity. She had a hand in securing both wins, as well.
Highland came in struggling, having lost to a Tygarts Valley squad that the Wildcats easily handled the week prior.
The first set commenced with Highland immediately losing their serve. Avery Townsend took over serving for Pendleton County, who rattled off four straight points. A Townsend ace and Arianna Young spike helped to build an early 4-0 lead.
The Rams tried to get back into the game off of Wildcat miscues, but a Young spike gave the Wildcats a 5-2 lead and set the tone for the rest of the set. Jenna Smith tried to do her best imitation of Varner’s earlier effort, serving 19 straight times with several aces in a row. When she started serving, the score was 6-3. At the close, the Wildcats led 23-4. Katie Hedrick’s two spikes during that run helped to keep Highland off the scoreboard.
A Young serve hit out of bounds closed the set at 25-4.
Pendleton County showed more discipline in this match than against the similarly capable Tygarts Valley. While aggressively crashing the net when needed, the team also lofted and softly tapped shots to vulnerable points in the defense.
As Coach Cooper explained, “we tried to make a point to not give away points.” He added that, “We take what the set gives us and don’t try to force the set.”
Set number two played out similarly to the first, although the Rams scored first. The Wildcats then scored on four straight Baylee Beachler serves, helped by a key set and return by Emma Hartman and Young, respectively. Hartman later dove to the floor to save a play, enabling an Elizabeth Alt set of a Young return that put Pendleton County up 9-2.
Although Pendleton County gave up three points in a row, they shut down any hope of a comeback quickly. The Wildcats scored on five straight Young serves that included two Hedrick spikes off of sets by Alt. Allie Cooper ended the set with an exclamation point of five straight aces.
In the third set Highland showed more aggressiveness and team discipline, but saw only marginally better results. While Pendleton County took an early 4-2 lead, Highland continued to score points. They came as close as 8-6 before the Wildcats resumed their relentless dominance. Serving honors in this set went to Alt, who served seven straight times and registered three aces in a row.
Varner then came into the game for Alt and took over the serve. With two aces and a beautiful set of a Beachler return, she helped her team reach a 20-6 lead. Townsend took over serving late, scoring an ace and benefiting from a Beachler spike. The set and game concluded on a Young spike off of a Varner set.
Pendleton County dropped a close game in four sets against Frankfort on Sept 29. Results for games against Tygarts Valley on the 4th, and Highland on the 5th were unavailable at press time. Frankfort barely edged mutual opponent Keyser 3-2 two weeks ago. Pendleton County defeated Keyser earlier last month and beat Tygarts Valley 3-0 two weeks ago.
The next game will be tonight at home against Petersburg.
