MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – One of the best 2019 Class AAA matchups didn’t come from No. 1 George Washington and No. 2 Wheeling Park, but rather took place on Bakers Ridge Tuesday night between the Mohigans and Hawks.
With a tougher front end of their schedule, the Mohigans (3-7) came at University (5-1) ready and ferocious in their first rivalry game of the season, taking the first set 25-21. The fast-paced play accounted for a slew of errors through the first 10 combined points, but after regaining focus and down by five points, Alayna Corwin and Grace Washburn brought MHS within two, setting up an attack run by McKayla Mills and Brooke Lyons before Corwin got the go-ahead kill.
After Sage Halbritter and Lyons pushed the lead to 16-11, effectively forcing a UHS timeout, the Hawks found momentum to push the deficit in the remaining points. It wouldn’t be enough and with MHS leading 23-21, Washburn sealed point 24 and Lyons tipped the game point just over the net.
The Hawks’ momentum transferred to Set 2, though, as the group tied the match 1-1 with a 25-21 win of their own.
Determined to rebound from their early loss, senior Ashten Boggs kicked into high gear and took advantage of the tiring Mohigans to find openings. Boggs’ go-ahead kill, breaking the 7-7 tie, was the push University needed to seal the set. The senior continued to push her team, wearing down MHS to take an 18-12 lead at the second timeout. Halbritter led a push to cut the five-point deficit to three, but an error gave University their final point.
“Ashten is our leader and comes out and plays hard,” 17-year head coach Don Godfrey said. “She tells the girls, ‘Don’t get down on yourself, wipe off the mistakes and play.’
“That’s all you can do.”
The third set played out much like the first two, with Morgantown coming out on top 25-22. The Mohigans gained control early over the worn out Hawks, giving them the edge to seal their second win.
University’s game plan was clear: force as many wild receives as possible. It worked for a few points, but Corwin, Washburn and Halbritter played smarter than their Hawks counterparts to take a 22-19 lead at the second timeout. UHS trailed 24-22 after a receiving error by the Mohigans, but Halbritter was there on the Hawks’ first serve to put away the ball and win the set.
Not looking back, both teams knew Set 4 was pivotal. And early on it seemed as if Morgantown had it.
Washburn, Mills and Corwin kept the fire from the previous set to force UHS errors, put away shots and put MHS up 9-4 at the first timeout. However, a lapse in clean play put Morgantown in a tough spot, and multiple errors paired with clutch plays by Boggs brought both teams in a foot race for the lead. With the Hawks up by six, the Mohigans fought back from the basement to begin another race for the lead, but a kill by Boggs, ace by Olivia Kaddar and two errors by Morgantown gave UHS the vital win.
Locked at 2-2, Morgantown kept their fire from Set 4 to take a huge 10-6 lead behind Corwin’s perfect serves and Washburn’s tight kills at the net in the tie-breaking set. It wouldn’t last, however, and after a short break due to injury, University got a boost to fight back. Boggs got the tying kill – her 17th and final of the night – to knot the score at 12, and after two more points by Morgantown another Hawks’ timeout allowed a second boost to fight back from a two point deficit, deny the Mohigans’ the game winning point and seal the game at 16-14.
“We got down in the last set, called timeout and said, ‘Listen, we can’t give up. Just play one point at a time, play our ball and do the best you can,’ ” Godfrey said. “They came back, fought hard and pulled it out. This is a big OVAC win.”
As for first-year head coach Erica Manor, taking on her previous school and losing by a slim margin was due in part to both teams making quick decisions in the heat of scrappy plays. And although a loss, her head is hanging high after seeing some major playmaker ability in her players.
“University is a great program and they have great players, and I think the (game) momentum was constantly changing,” she said. “Both teams were scrappy, reading plays and killing the ball in those big moments.
“Tonight Grace was a big go-to person. If we needed a side out, she was our ‘it girl’ and a good pass. She really stood up and showed a lot of leadership skills even as a young sophomore. It’s great as a coach to have that fire for the future.”
Corwin finished with 14 kills, 22 digs and two aces, while Washburn had 13 kills and five digs. Halbritter added 10 kills, and Mills rounded out the group with eight.
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