By Stephen Smoot
At the close of the first month of their inaugural season, the Pocahontas County Warrior volleyball squad clearly has made tremendous strides and improvement. Their first opponent of 2025, however, Pendleton County, has done the same in their reloading season.
While the Warriors have struggled, they showed that the team is having fun with the climb. They featured a fun and unique way to greet each other during team introductions and their fans were occasionally quite loud and supportive.
The game took place in Franklin because Pocahontas County has no home court on which to play, making their season a long Magical Mystery Tour of all opponents’ venues without relief.
They opened the first set and the game with the serve, but Laney Bowers set up Carolyn Varner nicely for a quick tap to the middle and the first score for the Wildcats. Chesnee Colaw took over the serve, firing a low trajectory shot across the net. The Warriors sent it back, only to endure a powerful spike from Colbie Wimer.
Pendleton County took a 4-1 lead quickly, but some inconsistency kept them from racing too far ahead in the opening set. Pocahontas County closed the score to 6-4, but then watched the Wildcats score the next 10 in a row, including four consecutive aces served up by Clara Raines and aggressive play at the net.
Alyssa Bennett made her presence felt at the end of set number one. A spike to the back line put her team up 17-7. Shortly thereafter, she helped to close the set with two straight aces that led to a 24-7 lead. On the final play of the set, Bennett set up Varner for a subtle tap that won it for the home team.
Bennett opened service in set two with an ace as the Wildcats quickly built a 6-2 lead. Breena Bowers, whose hard work and hustle helped to set up others all night, provided two aces in the early run. One glanced right off the fists of a defender and caromed directly out of bounds. Shortly after, Breena Bowers fielded a hit, setting up Varner, who got the ball to Brynlynn Waggy for one of her vicious spikes.
Waggy also demonstrated strong serving skills. Gracefully leaping in the air from a stride, she seemed to serve down at the opposition with high velocity, low trajectory attacks from the left corner.
In the middle of the second set, Waggy assumed the serve with an 11-5 advantage. Four of her seven serves could not be returned; some struck the floor without a defender touch at all. She also helped her own cause by fielding a hit, setting up Phoebe Pownell who provided a soft pass to Bennett for another big spike.
Not long after, Tia Heavner joined the spike parade, firing it across for a 19-6 score.
On one remarkable play, Varner tapped the ball into the net, then dove to the floor to pop it back across. Though the Warriors spiked the ball, the diving effort reflected how hard the Wildcats attacked plays. Sometimes overexuberance would lead to miscommunications and Wildcats colliding. At one point later in the game, Madison Day, head coach, shouted a request to stop “playing bumper cars,” imploring them, saying “you’ve got to talk!”
Still, the Wildcats closed out the set with a 25-9 win.
In set three, Pendleton County saw a bit different Pocahontas County squad. Through much of the first two sets, most Warrior points came off Wildcat miscues. By the third, Pocahontas County showed patient and disciplined play that saw them at times push the issue and earn points from their own work.
The Warriors excited their fans by putting up an early 3-1 lead in set number three. Breena Bowers made quick work of it with five straight aces, leading to a 7-3 advantage for the home team. Pocahontas County closed to 7-5, but the Wildcats had control from then on.
Teamwork continued to push Pendleton County. In the middle of the set, Colaw fielded a shot and got the ball to Callie Judy. Judy, as she did all night, popped up an accurate set for Wimer to drive across for a spike and a 10-4 lead. Shortly after, Judy set up a Waggy spike for a 12-6 advantage.
Freshman Kinsley Price, another presence on the front line, picked up a score by tapping a shot from the Warriors right back to the middle, building the lead to 17-7. She replayed the same move two serves later for the same result, after two of her teammates dove on the floor to keep the play alive for her.
The set ended when Bennett took the serve. Laney Bowers put the ball across for the 24th point and Bennett closed it down with an ace.
The Wildcats host Petersburg on Tuesday and travel to Tucker County on Oct. 9.
