Marietta defeats Catholic, Williamstown in tri-match
MARIETTA — Marietta High owned the whiphand in a volleyball tri-match at Sutton Gym Monday night.
After sweeping Williamstown High, 25-9 and 25-11, the Tigers did the same to Parkersburg Catholic High, 25-14 and 25-18.
“Our girls are getting better,” said MHS coach Ron Kidder, whose orange and black netter improved their overall record to 8-5. “We’re young this year. I told the girls at the beginning of the year to just keep improving.”
Williamstown (8-7-2) also played Catholic and defeated its Little Kanawha Conference rival, 25-5 and 25-18.
“At least we came back and played better against Catholic,” said WHS boss Rachelle Cole.
The Crusaderettes fell to 0-10 on the season.
“I thought we came out flat against two good teams,” said PCHS coach Amanda Weatherwax. “But I’m proud of the way we kept fighting.”
With Natalie Brooks (6), Hannah Kroft (6), Sydney Wright (4), Jillian Middleton (3) combining for 19 kills, Marietta dominated the net and never trailed Williamstown. Kroft added three blocks and five digs.
Tiger setter Morgan Connolly finished with 14 assists, while Carlie Hamilton and Tia Jarvis each had four digs.
“Tonight, we served, passed, and hit pretty well,” Kiddler said. “We played pretty well.”
Cole said that the Yellowjackets “didn’t appear to come out very ready against Marietta.”
“We’re better than that, but we didn’t show that tonight,” the Williamstown coach added. “I wish we’d have another chance to play them, but we don’t.”
Bethany Arnold, the Jackets’ leading hitter, was limited to just one kill against the Tigers. Faith Hoosier and Skyler Chancellor led the maroon and gold with three kills apiece.
“Nobody really played good against Marietta,” Cole said.
But Williamstown got back on the winning track in Match 2 against Catholic. Arnold led the Yellowjackets in kills with nine and added two blocks.
“In most games, Bethany’s our high kill person,” Cole said. “Sometimes Skyler Chancelor gets in there. She’s been pretty consistent for us.”
WHS setter Tori Tadlock chipped in with eight assists, while Skylar Watson finished with 13 digs.
In the third and final match of the tri, Catholic jumped out to a 4-0 advantage. But MHS just had too many weapons in the front row, rallied, and won by 11 points in the opening set. The Crusaderettes also played the Tigers tough in the final set before eventually falling by 10 points.
Brooks led the way with nine kills for the winners, and Connolly finished with 10 assists and four aces.
Catholic was paced by Aaliyah Brunny’s four kills and three blocks. Libero Gracie Lowers had seven digs, and Olivia Ullman finished with two kills, five assists and two aces.
“We woke up a little bit against Marietta,” Weatherwax said.