Using social distancing, East Hardy Volleyball was able to celebrate senior night and masked up for the trimatch victories over Keyser (25-15 & 25-12) and the Vikings (25-14 & 27-25) in straight sets last Thursday, while Petersburg edged the Golden Tornado (25-21 & 25-15).
The Cougars honored their trio of seniors: SierraMarie Miller, Erin Riggle and Perry Whetzel before the match against Petersburg.
“I’m glad we were able to come out here and get the win tonight. I thought the seniors did a really good job. Any time we can come out and compete and celebrate our seniors is a good day. We are real proud of them,” East Hardy assistant coach Chris Hahn commented.
“We kind of lifted our foot off the gas in the last set, but in our match against Keyser we’re doing the things we were supposed to do and let up a little bit against Petersburg in the second game. We will work on it and get better to continue to win. This senior group has seen it both, they have seen the good and the bad. Their freshmen year they were part of a really talented crew that went to the second round of the state tournament in Charleston, then we graduated a bunch of kids and they helped to build the program back up as we went through a rough patch there. Last year to see them get the program back to where it belongs and hope to see them continue that this year. They have worked hard to get us back to where we belong and we appreciate it.”[private]
During the trimatch, East Hardy athletic director Devon Orndorff made a special announcement regarding the protocols encouraging fans to “please wear your mask, so we can wear our jerseys.”
The Golden Tornado spun together a 6-nil advantage in the opening set, but East Hardy pounced back to take a 12-7 lead and kept the momentum swing going to seal off a 25-15 win.
During that stretch for the Keyser edge, Kaelyn Kesner recorded three aces and an additional service point as the ball ricocheted off two East Hardy players and Kaitlin Heavener garnered a block.
The initial point for the Cougars came from senior SierraMarie Miller’s attack being redirected out of play, 6-1.
East Hardy senior Erin Riggle served up an ace and made a save with Emily Dyer flicking the ball over for a point as no Golden Tornado reacted in time.
Keyser’s Virginia Breedlove earned a point as her volley glanced off a Cougars defender out.
East Hardy’s Courtney Shank gained a point off a block to create a 7-4 score as the rally continued to grow with Dyer delivering an ace and Miller following suit with three consecutive kills off passes from Riggle to take an 8-7 lead and the next several points belonged to the Cougars with another ace by Dyer plus attack points by Shank, Miller and Victoria Ames extending the newly acquired advantage to 12-7.
Heavener’s volley was saved by Dyer with Perry Whetzel notching a dig redirecting the ball close to the net as Ames made a diving scoop sliding under the net on the sequence.
After a serve into the net by the Golden Tornado, Shank delivered an ace for the Cougars.
Riggle made two spikes and Ames served an ace for a 20-10 lead over Keyser.
East Hardy’s Emma Heishman served an ace for a 23-13 score and kills by Riggle with sets from Miller sandwiched two errors to close out the first set, 25-15.
It was a reversal of starts in the second set as East Hardy began with a 4-nil lead on two aces by Riggle before an attack by Dyer was returned into the net and a dig by Ames was returned out of play by Keyser.
The Golden Tornado closed the gap to 4-3 on a block by Heavener plus an attack deflected out and ace from Kesner.
Miller crushed a spike for the Cougars, but Keyser responded with a volley by Heavener that was met with a dig by Riggle which ricocheted up and off her elbow for a Golden Tornado point.
East Hardy’s Gabby Miller made block, then an attack by Ames was deflected back into the net.
Shank served an ace and the next serve was returned out to give the Cougars a 9-4 lead.
Gabby Miller had an attack returned into the net for another point and SierraMarie Miller garnered an ace to take an 11-6 advantage.
After a kill by Keyser’s Breedlove and a couple of errors the score was at 12-8.
East Hardy seniors Erin Riggle and Perry Whetzel stepped up with more points as Riggle sandwiched two kills around an ace by Whetzel for a 15-8 lead.
After a volley into the net, Riggle blocked a shot by Heavener before serving the ball into then net.
Riggle’s next attack needed four touches to corral on the Keyser side which was a violation, 17-10.
Whetzel made a couple digs on launches by Heavener and Riggle took the passes.
An ace by Shank put East Hardy ahead of the Golden Tornado 23-11, then an attack by Heavener was saved by Ames and the set was off the mark landing the ball in the net.
After a kill by SierraMarie Miller, her serve was returned out of bounds for the final score of 25-12.
East Hardy took a break as Petersburg battled to victory over Keyser, then the Cougars returned for the senior night celebration and capped off the trimatch with a win over the Vikings.
Petersburg began the set against the Cougars with a serve from Lauren Alt which was returned for a point by Riggle as the ball smashed into the face of Saide Dayton and ricocheted to the floor.
Dayton was okay and remained in the match, laughing off the play.
Riggle served and the ball was returned by Petersburg’s Kimberly Minnich with a save by Emily Dyer.
Another attack by Minnich was met by a dig from Whetzel, but failed to be returned.
Minnich garnered a spike for a 2-1 Vikings edge, then Riggle evened the score on an attack which required four Petersburg hits.
Dyer served up an ace giving the Cougars the lead, but another serve went awry.
A serve by Minnich was returned into the net, then Miller and Minnich traded spikes as Petersburg took the lead briefly.
A dig by Whetzel saved a point, but the ensuing volley from Petersburg’s Emma Berg located the floor, 6-4.
East Hardy’s Gabby Miller blocked a volley and it was saved by Alt, then SierraMarie Miller landed a spike and served up a point as the return went out to tie the set.
Riggle earned two points off volleys deflected out of play giving the Cougars the edge as Chassity Stump crashed into the bench unsuccessfully trying to save one of the shots.
During a serve by SierraMarie Miller, the Vikings made a set which wasn’t reacted to in time as the ball fell to the floor with the lack of communication.
Riggle smashed the ball over the net as East Hardy went up 10-6.
Riggle made four more kills and Whetzel served up an ace to alternate a couple of volleying errors as the Cougars built a 17-9 lead.
Petersburg’s Minnich and Brooklyn Rohrbaugh made spikes and Aaliyah Goldizen served an ace to close the gap to 18-14.
Dyer and Ames made two attacks which were volleyed back out of play, then a serve by Dyer was returned out too.
Miller blocked an attack by Minnich, then Dyer’s next two serves were returned out of bounds as East Hardy won 25-14 in the first set.
The Vikings took an early 3-1 lead in the second set with the help of two errors and kill by Goldizen.
East Hardy rallied for a 5-4 lead as SierraMarie Miller, Ames and Riggle made kills plus a block by Riggle.
Gabby Miller added a point for the Cougars off an attack which was redirected out of bounds.
A pass from Whetzel to SierraMarie Miller was turned into a point as the Vikings failed to get the dig, 8-6.
Whetzel served an ace, then Riggle made a block plus two spikes and Miller notched a point as the ball was returned out to extend the lead 13-6.
Minnich made a couple of points off volleys as digs by Whetzel and Shank weren’t corralled.
Attacks by Petersburg’s Stump and Minnich were returned into the net as the deficit was cut down to 15-12.
East Hardy’s Gabby Miller made a dig off a serve by Minnich and SierraMarie Miller made the save, but the ball didn’t clear the net.
An attack by Riggle was deflected back into the net as East Hardy went up 20-15.
Three consecutive errors enabled the Vikings to fight back during serves by Stump.
Petersburg’s Emma Berg blocked a shot to cut the East Hardy lead to 20-19.
Whetzel made a huge dig save off an attack by Berg to create a Cougars point.
Both teams committed errors off attacks by Berg and Miller.
Another error by the Vikings put East Hardy ahead 23-20.
Petersburg wasn’t ready to call it a night as an attack by Berg was returned into the net and Goldizen made a kill, then a serve by Minnnich was met on a dig by Shank and didn’t cross over the net as the set was tied at 23-all.
East Hardy responded with a spike by Riggle, but the Vikings answered the tithe same by Goldizen.
Petersburg took a 25-24 lead on a kill from Minnich.
Miller’s attack was met with a dig by Stump and saved at the bench by Goldizen, then Whetzel made a pass to Riggle who set for Miller to smash the ball with the deflection going off of Stump, 25-25.
Minnich made an attack and it was saved on a dig by Ames and the pass from Miller to Riggle resulted in a spike.
During the serve by East Hardy’s Emily Dyer, senior Erin Riggle set for fellow senior SierraMarie Miller to tag team the senior night match point kill for the 27-25 victory over the Vikings.[/private]
East Hardy looks to keep the momentum of this winning week into the upcoming road trip that includes ten matches through October 10 starting yesterday against Hampshire, tomorrow at Jefferson with Hedgesville and in Franklin on Friday.