MORGANTOWN — After watching her team struggle through a rough first set, Morgantown High volleyball coach Erica Minor looked her players in the eye and reminded them of just one thing.
“I told them they had one of two choices,” Minor said Wednesday after the Mohigans recovered from that 25-8 setback in the first set to come back and beat Dover (Ohio) to advance to the finals of the OVAC tournament. “Either they roll over, or they flip the page and start playing the game like we know can.”
Maybe it was the speech. Maybe the Crimson Tornados came back to Earth after a near-flawless first set, or maybe the Mohigans finally got to their game.
Whatever the case, the effect was three straight set wins for an impressive 3-1 victory and a trip to the OVAC finals on Saturday against rival University High.
MHS (18-7-1) might’ve come out a little flat in Set 1, but it might not have mattered, because Dover (13-8) was cruising on all cylinders from the jump in a brutally efficient display of power volleyball. Calm passing, strategic hitting off blocks, and a whopping seven service aces prevented the Mohigans from winning two consecutive points in the entire set. The Tornados built an early 10-2 lead, then closed out the set with a powerful 11-1 run.
The second set proved much tighter, as neither team could pull away. MHS finally grinded out an 8-3 mini-run to nose ahead late, 22-18, but Dover fought back to tie it at 23-all. The Mohigans proceeded to earn four set points, but couldn’t seal the deal. Tied at 27-27, a controversial no-touch out call on a Dover swing gave MHS their fifth set point, and they finally cashed it in to turn the match into a best of three.
In Set 3, the momentum swings started to get stronger, as both teams began to bunch points. Dover turned a 10-1 burst into a 12-7 lead, but Morgantown’s crucial 10-4 response took them to set point at 24-22. Once again, Dover found a way to tie it up at 24-24, but two Mohigan kills captured the set, 26-24.
The fourth set continued the call-and-response pattern that the two evenly matched, well-coached teams had established in Set 3. Dover flipped a 4-2 deficit with eight straight points for a 10-4 quick advantage, but MHS’s 10-2 run restored the two-point lead at 14-12. The lead leap-frogged back and forth until the Mohigans edged ahead at 21-19, and this time, they continued to side-out, preventing the Crimson Tornados from pulling even again, closing out the hard-fought win, 25-22.
Paige Brock led the Mohigans with an outstanding all-around match that featured 10 kills, 20 assists, and 17 digs. Issy Grushecky led with 12 kills, Emily Goldcamp chipped in 8 successful hits, and Ella Voorhees registered 19 digs in the impressive comeback win.
After the match, Manor was thrilled with her veteran team’s response to Dover’s initial excellence.
“Dover was outstanding in the first set, and they’re just a very good Ohio volleyball team,” she explained. “It was a really exciting match, played at a very high level, and it’s especially satisfying to see us raise our game to meet the challenge. We fought back, and played the big points late in sets very well, and that was due in large part to our senior leadership. They’ve been in tight matches before, so they knew what they had to do to stay focused and get the job done. I think this was a match that both teams can use to build from as we each try to compete for our State titles.”
Morgantown and University meet at Union Local High School in Belmont, Ohio on Saturday.
