Parkersburg South volleyball defeats Parkersburg in 4 sets
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PARKERSBURG – It's Rivalry Week here in Parkersburg, and the volleyball teams started things off with a bang. The cross-town rivalry match between Parkersburg and Parkersburg South filled the stands with devoted supporters of both squads. The Patriots ended up getting the victory on the road in four sets (25-22, 25-22, 24-26, 25-16).
In the first set, the Big Reds started off strong with two aces early on by Elliza Towner and Olivia Perkins. South was consistently trailing by a few points throughout the first half of the set, but the team was able to come back and tie things up at 13 thanks to a well-timed ace by Payten Mackey. After tying things up, the Patriots went on a five-point run that gave them a lead of 18-13. Later on, Parkersburg's Perkins got back-to-back aces that both hit the net, stopping the ball's momentum and throwing the Patriots attempt to hit it off guard. This pair of scores brought the Big Reds to just a one-point deficit. However, South was able to keep it together and expanded their lead by the time they won the set, 25-22.
South started off the second set by scoring back to back points, the latter of which came on an ace by Mackey. Just as the Patriots began to cement their lead, Parkersburg's Lola Rosenbaum put up a key block on the ball that prevented South from running away with the set. While the Big Reds were not able to capitalize on this momentum and take the lead, they were able to get within one point a couple of times. It was at this point that Maia Johnson of Parkersburg South began to unleash some brutal kills that would have been difficult to return for anyone. The Patriots clinched set two 25-22 once again.
Set three was the most electrifying yet. The two teams were deadlocked until around point 10, when Parkersburg began to take the lead. However, that lead would soon dissipate, as the teams would find themselves tied at 16 thanks to an incredibly clutch dig by South's Brylee Hatcher. Ashlynn Eagle of the Big Reds had a huge kill the very next volley that gave Parkersburg back the lea.d. While Parkersburg stayed in control for the remaqinder of the set, South was able to tie things up at 24, preventing a 25-point victory for Parkersburg. The Big Reds took the third set thanks to an ace by Caelyn Wise that put Parkersburg up 26-24.
South kicked off set four with back-to-back aces from Mackey. The Patriots held a lead for the entire fourth set, although the margin did ebb and flow quite significantly. Thanks to a few more powerful spikes from Johnson as well as key plays from all the other girls on the court, South took set four 25-16 and claimed victory in their rivalry match against Parkersburg.
South first-year head coach Emily Tracewell described the mindset of the Patriots before the match, "I think we went into the game, because we had a scrimmage with them, knowing that if we played with confidence and discipline, that we could get the job done. I think we started off mediocre, and then by the third set we we're a little complacent after beating them in two sets, when one of their goals was to beat them with confidence. I think we were able to turn it around in the fourth set and show everybody what they've been working on and how they've been building their skills, building their team work, and really come together. I think it showed us that we can play at that level with other teams, but we can play at an even higher level."
Despite it being a huge rivarly game, Tracewell made sure to not focus on that too much, "Being my first year, I obviously didn't hype up the rivalry that much. We kinda just told them, 'we don't care what the name on their shirt is, we're coming here to play, and we're coming to get a win.' We want to do that in the best way possible, and not go back and forth, but I think the girls were prepared and they knew that they could do it because we have confidence in them."