MORGANTOWN — In a rivalry battle between two of the best volleyball teams in the state of West Virginia, Morgantown traveled to Baker’s Ridge and earned a solid victory over University on Tuesday night 3-1 (25-20, 23-25, 25-23, 26-24).
The Mohigans (17-1) haven’t lost a match to UHS since 2019 and first-year head coach Abigail Wolfe earned her first Mohawk win at the helm in the annual rivalry.
MHS freshman Leah Greeny led the Mohigans with 19 kills on offense while supplying five blocks on defense as well. Senior setter Audrey Buck provided 49 assists for MHS in the contest.
“First of all, the environment was incredible tonight,” Wolfe said. “Each set had its own challenges and theme to it. We wanted to try and keep our serve as long as possible simply. I thought our defense was scrappy. UHS was switching line-ups, and we adapted to that well on the fly.”
In the first set, MHS took an early 3-0 lead, but that quickly diminished as the Hawks battled back to a 5-5 tie.
The attacking force of Greeny and MHS junior Paige Brink began to make their impact early and often in the match, helping the Mohigans extend a lead to 15-11 midway through the opening set.
The Hawks held tight, forcing MHS into some errors and keeping the ball moving well around the court. But the visitors held true and took the first set 25-20.
“They’re the defending state champions for a reason,” UHS head coach Nick Lusk said. “I’m proud of the way we battled to the end. We will learn from the game and find a few things we want to tweak and be ready for them the next time we see them.”
The second set was all UHS from the beginning with a quick 5-2 advantage being built. Even after the Mohigans battled back to take a lead the Hawks responded with a run and snatched it back, eventually winning the set 25-23 and evening the match at one set each.
That’s when Greeny started to flex her muscles at the net, seemingly involved in a positive play for MHS every play. Behind the play of the 6-foot-2 freshman, MHS took a 14-9 lead in the third set that forced a timeout from the Hawks.
“I thought the effort as a whole was strong and everyone came together for a huge win tonight,” Greeny said. “When we fell behind, we rallied, and the whole team made a great effort to pick each other up and battle.”
After facing the deficit in the third, the Hawks responded well out of a timeout and broke off an 8-4 run that cut the MHS lead to one point, 18-17.
Holding onto a two-point lead, 21-19, Greeny came through with two huge kills and a service ace to close out the third set 25-23 and give MHS a 2-1 lead in the match.
UHS came out swiftly in the fourth set with the match on the line and built a 10-5 advantage. The Mohigans elected against taking a timeout and after falling behind 12-6, rallied with a 6-1 run that forced a UHS timeout at 13-12.
The run swelled to 10-1 as the Mohigans battled back to take a lead of 16-13, and it continued to 13-2 as MHS led 19-14.
With their hopes dwindling, the Hawks willed themselves to a run of their own and they clawed back to tie the fourth set at 24-all, with the winning team needing to win by two.
But once again, Greeny made the difference for the Mohigans with a defensive play a the net to take the next point, and a huge kill to put the match away for her team.
“It’s a great opportunity to come out and be able to play at such a high level, playing varsity as a freshman,” she said. “I think that my teammates have all been so welcoming and we have been able to come together to play some strong volleyball. Playing in this game for the first time was a fun experience.”
MHS will head home on Thursday against Marrietta (Oh.), while the Hawks will travel to John Marshall the same evening.
