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Williamstown netters sweep LKC

Roane County’s Lauren Gorman has her spike attempt blocked by Williamstown’s Brooke Stewart during Saturday night’s Little Kanawha Conference semifinals in Ravenswood. Photo by Jay W. Bennett.

 

RAVENSWOOD — It was high quality volleyball here Saturday night in the Little Kanawha Conference championship showdown between Williamstown and Tyler Consolidated.

Although each of the first two sets were even at 20 and set three saw a tie at 22-all, it was the Yellowjackets who came out on top with a 25-22, 25-22 and 25-23 sweep of the Silver Knights.

“That was a good game. It was back and forth,” admitted WHS senior Brooke Stewart, who tied Tyler Consolidated’s Abbie Fletcher for finals match-high downed spikes with 17 apiece.

Stewart and fellow WHS seniors BreeAnn Reynolds (27 assists), Nellie King (10 digs, four kills) and Courtney Dotson (12 kills) helped lead the way as the Yellowjackets not only improved to 35-10, but also knocked off TCHS for the second time this season in three tries.

The Williamstown volleyball team swept Tyler Consolidated on Saturday night in Ravenswood to win the Little Kanawha Conference championship. Photo by Jay W. Bennett.

“Tyler is always good and I can always look forward to a good game with them,” Reynolds said. “Tonight, we just worked well together, all of us. I mean they (Tyler) did too.

“Courtney, Nellie, Brooke and myself, we told the team it’s too late to be lollygagging around, so we got to buckle down, work hard and all of them were on board and they agreed.”

The Silver Knights (36-13) of head coach Richard Summers rolled to a 25-10, 25-15 and 25-18 semifinal sweep of Calhoun County behind Fletcher’s 29-kill performance.

Williamstown punched its ticket into the finals after sweeping Roane County 25-12, 25-16 and 25-17. Freshman Skyler Chancellor had 14 points and three aces while Stewart (12 kill), Bethany Arnold (nine) and Dotson (seven) led the hitting parade.

“I was really proud of them,” expressed an elated WHS head coach Rachelle Cole. “The four seniors who have been with me since day one, you couldn’t ask for a better group of girls. So it was really nice to accomplish this.”

The Williamstown volleyball team swept Tyler Consolidated on Saturday night in Ravenswood to win the Little Kanawha Conference championship. Photo by Jay W. Bennett.

In the opening set of the championship match, the Silver Knights led 15-13 after Alexa Johnson recorded a kill from one of Macy Long’s match-high 34 assists. A Chancellor kill gave King a service point and the ‘Jackets a 22-21 cushion, which caused coach Summers to call a timeout. King then proceeded to make a key dig on a Fletcher smash and Chancellor’s kill made it 23-21. Although Fletcher followed with a kill of her own through a double block, Stewart got a stuff at the net and Chancellor served up an ace on set point in the best-of-five match.

An ace by JoLee Walton put the Silver Knights ahead 3-2 early in the second set. Kills by Stewart, Dotson and Arnold with Tori Tadlock at the service line helped the Yellowjackets push ahead 9-6. A downed spike by Joralda Rice cut the deficit to a pair and TCHS finally went back ahead at 12-11 following a Peyton Kocher ace.

Despite taking an 18-16 lead on Josey Jones’ ace, the Silver Knights couldn’t hold the cushion. A timely dig by Silver Knight libero Madison West helped keep a volley alive, but WHS used three straight downed spikes from Arnold to forge ahead 19-18. Even at 20, it was Arnold’s kill which put the ‘Jackets ahead for good. Williamstown libero Skylar Watson, who had a match-high 24 digs, served for three straight points to make it 24-20 and the ‘Jackets took a commanding two sets to none lead on a Silver Knight service error.

“Williamstown played well, but we were a little bit out of sync and games like that, so many young kids for us were on the floor,” coach Summers stated. “They are growing up.

“We’ve got 12 of 16 who are in the 10th-grade or less and they are surrounded by three good seniors (Fletcher, West, Long), but we’ll benefit from games like this.”

Set three started with a West ace and then a Rice/Walton double block for a quick 2-0 TCHS lead. Dotson, though, countered with two aces of her own and then three more points as Stewart dominated at the net for a 7-3 advantage. With Jones toeing the service line, the Silver Knights later tied set three at 10-all after a Johnson kill.

The third set later had ties at 15, 16, 17, 21 and 22-all before an attack error gave Williamstown the lead for good. With King serving, Stewart registered a kill for a 24-22 lead. Although a Fletcher kill staved of the first match point, Watson made the last pass of the match to Reynolds, whose set was turned into an assist after Stewart’s downed spiked set off a frenzied celebration.

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