CHARLESTON — The Morgantown volleyball team gave it their all in a superb performance but fell short in a hard-fought semifinal loss to Hedgesville in a thrilling match at the Class AAA state tournament at the Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center on Friday night.
The intensity of the match was in abundance as momentum shifted quite often throughout what proved to be the third and final meeting of these two teams this season with a coveted spot on the line in the championship match against Musselman.
“I think we came out with just a little too much energy and things didn’t fall our way” MHS coach Erica Manor said. “We lose eight seniors but we still have a little left for next season. We have changed the culture here in Morgantown. We’ve changed things around to make Morgantown volleyball what it is today.”
Morgantown (31-10-1) led off its quest for the Class AAA state crown as the No. 3 seed, collecting a solid match win over Parkersburg, which MHS beat twice during the regular season.
However, and as expected, the first set of the semifinal match against the Eagles proved to be a battle as both teams put together determined efforts.
Despite being bolstered early by Kaitlyn Anderson’s consecutive aces and aggressive play at the net, the Mohigans fell behind 7-2 struggling with the power of the Eagles’ front wall.
However, they picked up the intensity in the second set to stay within 3 points but again found it hard to match the relentless digs and strength of the Eagles’ Skyler Yates.
Hedgesville (32-6-2), came into the match having split with the Mohigans during the regular season in gaining an early September road win and a neutral court loss in October.
“Skylar is a phenomenal player and works hard all the time,” Eagles coach Joy Vandinesaid. “We kind of got away from serving aggressively so we had to remind them that we have to serve the way we are suppose to serve. It was a great game and we’re excited to play Musselman [today]. We’ve played them more than anyone this year and we look forward to it.”
Morgantown put on a strong rally with aces from Paige Brock, whose serves brought her team back from what appeared to be an overwhelming Eagles lead. Strong net play from Grace Washburn helped gain the Mohigans set point at 24-23. However, after a back and forth struggle with long volleys, Hedgesville managed to come up with more extraordinary digs to slow Morgantown’s rally and came out on top 28-26 to win the second set.
The momentum switched in the third set as the Mohigans maintained a 3-point lead nearly the whole set. With more finesse hitting into open spaces, they took the set 25-19. However, the momentum was short-lived as they simply began showing fatigue losing in the fourth set.
“It’s really fun to see our program grow, “ Manor said. “Hopefully we’ll be back.”
By JOEY JOHNSON
