MORGANTOWN — It is unclear whether any of the volleyball coaches at Thursday’s tri match between Preston, Trinity and University have ever heard of Margaret Wolfe Hungerford, or read her 1878 novel Molly Bawn.
Yeah, me neither.
But just about everyone has heard her famous line: “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” and it’s also likely those same three coaches would feel comfortable in restating it as, “Happiness is in the eyes of the coach.”
After all, while the Hawks swept the Knights (25-11, 25-11) and the Warriors (25-1, 25-7), and Preston swept Trinity (25-21, 25-15), each coach was able to find reasons to be happy with their teams at the end of the night.
Despite the losses, Trinity (2-17) remained competitive in both sets against Preston, and coach Kate Dlugos was pleased with the progress, spirit and fight her short-handed team displayed.
“Our only senior is hurt,” she said, “and there were times we had six freshmen on the floor. It’s really tough to learn the game while playing varsity matches against two really good teams, but we never quit and never got down. I really liked how we supported each other, and the leadership among our freshmen was significant. When your young players have buy-in, it gives you a good chance to grow for the future.”
On the other hand, while Preston (11-10) coach Zebulon Lewis was less than enthusiastic about his team’s execution in both matches, he still recognized the forward steps his program has taken this season.
“We did not play our best tonight, for sure,” he said “I know we are capable of playing much better volleyball. I’ve told the girls that I’d much rather play really well and lose, than play poorly and win. However, one of our goals on the season was to be around .500, and that’s where we are right now. And the fact that we can play less than our best and still win a match is definitely an indicator of our growth as a program.”
As for University coach Don Godfrey, his 21-7 Hawks have won 10 of their last 11 — including Wednesday’s big home victory against Bridgeport — so his No. 1 goal was to keep everyone happy.
“We gave our starters the first set,” he said, “and then gave our younger players a chance for some significant varsity playing time. That gives us a chance to evaluate for the future, and gives the starters both a tune-up and some rest.
“We are on a very nice roll right now and there’s no better time to be playing well. That win against Bridgeport, our first win against them in five years, gives us a good chance to be the No. 1 seed in the sectional (Buckhannon-Upshur and host Preston are the other teams in the tournament). All we want is keep it going, and we did that tonight for sure.”
The Hawks travel to Fairmont Senior on Tuesday, the Knights depart for Braxton County on Monday for their longest road trip of the season and the Warriors also travel on Monday to St. Marys for a tri match with Parkersburg Christian.
