MORGANTOWN – In a season filled with adversity from multiple angles, the Morgantown High School volleyball team earned the right to return to Charleston and battle for the program’s second-straight state title.
The Mohigans defeated visiting Buckhannon-Upshur 3-0 (25-14, 25-11, 25-11) inside the Rowdie Center at MHS Wednesday evening to advance to the 2024 WVSSAC state volleyball tournament next week in Charleston, where they will defend their 2023 state championship, albeit in a new class.
“We are so excited to be returning to the state tournament; it’s become a bit of a standard for our program recently,” MHS head coach Abigail Wolfe said. “It’s never easy to get there, and being able to compete with the best teams in the state is all we could ask for.”
Wednesday’s victory improved the Mohigans to 37-10 on the 2024 season as they made quick work of the Lady Bucs.
The MHS offense started early and often in the opening set, establishing a dominant presence on the frontline with hitters Paige Brink and Leah Greeny.
“I would say that we are definitely more offensive-minded as a team,” Wolfe said. “We know our strengths and want to play to them. When our attack is on and is successful, it’s fun to watch. It’s always nice to have a game this close to the state tournament where our attack looks as good as it did tonight.”
Greeny and Brink both earned double-digit kills in the match. The two combined for a .656 hitting percentage in the game, going 21/32 on their attempts. Buckhannon simply had no answer for the MHS attack from the opening moments of the contest.
The Mohigans captured the first set 25-14 and immediately picked back up in the second set, jumping out to a 13-5 lead.
That margin grew to double figures as MHS didn’t take its foot off of the gas and continued to pound the ball into Buckhannon territory.
The Mohigans took set two 25-11, leaving themselves with just one more set needed to punch their ticket to Charleston.
They left no doubt in the third, with another 25-11 game that was enough to give them a 3-0 sweep and a co-regional title.
“We’ve rode a bit of a wave this season, and its gone up and down,” Wolfe said. “We started strong and then had some setbacks with injuries and such, but two weeks ago, we played in a tri, and everything seemed to be clicking as it was at the beginning of the season. It’s always great to play your best volleyball at this time of the year. It’s a huge relief to see our girls come you and perform so well as we head into the toughest stretch of the season.”
