MORGANTOWN — School is underway and sports are back inside The Rowdie Center with the MHS volleyball team kicking off its season by defeating the Preston High Knights in a 3-0 sweep on Wednesday evening.
It was a one-sided battle as the Mohigans (1-0) only trailed once in the entire match to the Knights (0-1). That came in the second set when MHS found itself down early by a 3-1 deficit. The set prior however, was a very different story.
The Knights didn’t seem quite ready for the power and precision of the MHS offense. The Mohigans were hitting on all cylinders right out of the gate and jumped out to a 10-3 lead, causing PHS to call its first timeout.
A few points out of the timeout for the Knights allowed them to get the ball back onto their serve and get the ball out of the hands of the hard-hitting Mohigans.
However, MHS held strong and absorbed the rally from its opponents and would close the set out by a score of 25-10. Manor said her team was eager to begin the season and find out what they are made of.
“There is nothing more exciting than a season opener at home to kind of see where we are at compared to some of our opponents,” MHS head coach Erica Manor-Sphar. “I feel like we came out of the gate very strong and we were lights out offensively. We had Audrey (Buck) and Paige (Brock) putting shots away, same with Kaitlyn (Anderson). We communicated well as a team, still have some things to work on obviously, but we are happy with the first game being a win for sure.”
Lights out is the perfect way to describe the offense for the Mohigans. Rally upon rally saw MHS work the ball all over the court, setting the ball backward and forward and to each side, before one of the outside hitters were there to spike the ball, and if we are being honest, it doesn’t matter who is there to hit it, the ball is going to be difficult to return.
But, behind the power of the Mohigan hitters, are the setters making the passes; something MHS did exceptionally well against the Knights. Manor-Sphar knows that when it comes to volleyball, especially at the high school level, quality passing and setting can often be overlooked.
“We are so blessed to have as many well-rounded setters as we do and it’s not often that a team can say that,” she said of her team’s setters. “We are fortunate to have the players we do in our program and we want to continue to watch everyone get better.”
Audrey Buck and Paige Brock lead the Mohigans with a combined 23 assists and 16 kills. Defensively, Grace DeVall had 14 digs with zero errors and Liz Brink contributed three blocks.
MHS took the second set 25-12 after trailing early, as mentioned. The third set would see the same outcome as the previous two and prove to be the final played of the night. MHS took the opening match over the Knights, 3-0 (25-10, 25-12, 25-9).
The Mohigans will next travel to Wheeling for a tri-match with Wheeling Park and Dover, Ohio next week on August 30th.
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