CHARLESTON — In the 2022 state championship last year, the Morgantown High School volleyball team was swept 3-0 by Musselman who won its third straight state title.
On Thursday, the Mohigans avenged their 2022 state championship defeat 3-2 over the Lady Applemen in a five-set thriller (25-23, 25-19, 21-25, 19-25, 15-9).
Morgantown earned its first state championship in program history after reaching the title match for the first time ever last season.
“I am so proud of the players and everyone on our team, this is so exciting for the program to be able to win our first championship ever,” MHS head coach Erica Manor said. “For us to be able to stamp that into the history books for our program is so special.”
The match opened quickly in the first set with the two sides trading points back and forth, not allowing the other to pull away. Tied at 13, the Mohigans rallied for nine of the next 11 points and grew a lead to 22-15. A late push by Musselman saw the score as close as 24-23, but Morgantown slammed the door shut to take a close opening set 25-23.
As the first had done, the second set began tight and with a rapid pace. Knotted at nine points each, the Mohigans once again took a lead but only by a pair this time 14-12. The lead grew to three (19-16) later on, and this time the Musselman comeback was denied as Morgantown took the second set 25-19 and held a 2-0 advantage in the match entering the third set.
“We knew we would maybe drop some sets and knew it would be a fight,” MHS senior hitter Kaitlyn Anderson said. “We came out with fire and took the first two sets which was really important down the stretch.”
With its back against the wall, Musselman opened the third set strong and jumped out to a 6-1 lead early on. The Mohigans cut the deficit to 7-6 but were unable to take a lead until 18-17 when all-tournament selection Paige Brink gave her team its first lead of the third set with a huge kill.
The Lady Applemen responded well though, and took the next three straight points on their way to a 25-21 set three victory.
“They were finding holes in our blocks and were doing a great job up front,” Manor said of the Musselman hitters. “I think we adjusted well to that down the stretch and managed that better when we needed to but we knew the job wasn’t going to be done by any means.”
The fourth set began tight, but Musselman continued riding the wave of momentum generated from the third set victory and opened a lead 13-6 that saw everything in its favor. The Mohigans didn’t go away without a fight, and cut the deficit to as little as three, but were unable to overcome the early lead built by their opponents. A fifth and final set played to 15 is what it would take to determine the Class AAA state champion.
“We were saying that we had to come out with the most energy that we had ever given in a match before,” Anderson said of the talk in the huddle before the final set. “It was important to set the tone early and take the lead early in the fifth set.”
That went according to plan for the Mohigans, and Anderson herself earned three big kills to open the deciding set for a 3-1 lead. That lead grew to 9-4 and after a Musselman timeout, swelled to 11-6 and 13-6 two points later.
A small surge from the Lady Applemen wasn’t enough to overcome the early deficit in the set as Anderson’s kill wasn’t returned on match point 14-9, giving the Mohigans the first Class AAA state championship in program history.
“It’s really amazing,” Anderson said. “We’ve made history nearly every year and for us to put the stamp on it this way and this year means so much. Coach Manor put a lot of belief in us and me individually since my freshman year playing varsity and it means so much for her to have that trust in me.”
“I’m really proud of the energy coming out in the fifth set, we were able to build on that,” Manor said. “We were giving away some momentum there but with the leadership on this team and being heavy in seniors, we were able to overcome that and send them out in style.”
Three Mohigans earned all-tournament honors in senior Grace DeVall, junior Audrey Buck, and Brink.
