MORGANTOWN, W. Va. — The Morgantown High volleyball team earned its second straight win this season against rival University High on Thursday, at the Hawks’ home gymnasium.
Unlike the first meeting this season, MHS did not win in a runaway.
The Hawks ramped up their game, but in a very close, entertaining match, Morgantown dominated the big points late to win again, 3-1.
Set 1 seemed to establish a pattern repeated throughout the match, when each team took turns controlling play and accumulating points in bunches. After a slow start, University (13-5) rebounded to take a five-point lead at 15-10, only to see Morgantown (15-3) scratch back to tie it at 16-all. The Hawks jumped back up at 21-18, and had several chances to run their offense and close out the set, but couldn’t get the job done. And when good teams get extra chances, they usually don’t squander them, as the Mohigans ran away on a 7-1 spurt to take it, 25-22.
The second set looked to be a carbon copy of Set 1, with UHS playing well to forge another 5-point lead in the middle stages, but Morgantown roared by, and was up 20-15. But instead of crumpling, the Hawks fought back, winning 10 out of 13 points down the stretch to win 25-23 and even the match.
Both teams had proven they could take control deep into a set, and Set 3 see-sawed in tight fashion, both teams unable to pull away as they remained all square at 10-10. That’s when MHS turned up their offensive firepower, as they zoomed on a 15-6 run to take Set 3, 25-16.
In the fourth and final set, the Hawks looked beaten early, as they quick fell behind, 5-1. But, they found their rhythm and forged back into the lead at 10-7, and continued to play swing for swing and dig for dig with their measuring-stick rivals. UHS held another late lead at 18-17 – and once again, the Mohigans simply found another gear, blowing by with a big 8-1 run to close it out, 25-19.
Morgantown was paced by Abbey Paczek’s 13 kills, with Sage Halbritter right behind with 11 kills, while Kelsey Riley contributed her usual all-around effort with 10 kills and 4 aces. The Hawks were led by Ashten Boggs, who also buried a game-high 13 kills, and Anna Thretheway, who added 8 kills. UHS Setter Lauren Huggins dished out 25 assists.
After the match, both coaches saw offensive aggressiveness as the biggest key.
“When we really start to swing well, and get strong offensive sets, we can keep our opponents back on their heels a little,” said MHS coach Nick Lusk, “and we did a good job with that tonight. We also found a way to ramp up our offensive efficiency in the late stages of sets, and any time you play your best at crunch time, you’ve got a good chance to be successful. The girls played very well tonight after having a real good week of practice, and you always like to see that.”
UHS coach Don Godfrey was certainly pleased with the arc of his team’s effort compared to the first meeting.
“We had our chances, especially in the first set, to take that one, and maybe get up big on them,” he said. “But we just couldn’t seem to put the ball down or get the big swing we needed. But we played very well in extended stretches tonight, and I really liked our effort and spirit and the way we fought back and stayed positive. We’ll build on the good parts of this one, and hopefully keep getting better.”
Morgantown, who swept the junior varsity match, 25-20 and 25-15, will host University and two other teams yet to be determined in the OVAC semifinals on Oct. 9.
