The Ritchie County volleyball team punched its ticket to the Class A state volleyball tournament and defeated state-qualifying Williamstown in four sets during Saturday’s Region I championship match. (Photo provided)

ELLENBORO — Ritchie County used a balanced hitting attack to emerge as the Class A, Region I champion here Saturday afternoon after knocking off defending state champ Williamstown by scores of 25-21, 25-23, 23-25 and 26-24.

Both the Rebels (35-8) of head man Matt Carpenter and the Yellowjackets (35-7) of head coach Rachelle Cole qualified for the state tournament that gets underway Wednesday in Charleston.

Emily Griffin (16), Rebekah Rupert (14) and Sydney Kopshina (13) led the kill barrage in the finals. Jayci Gray chipped in six downed spikes, setter Abby Nichols had a match-high 41 assists and joined teammate Maci Ireland with a pair of kills.

“It’s weird. Everybody is talking. It’s like the same thing that happened last year. It’s just reversed,” admitted coach Carpenter. “They couldn’t get us last year. We beat them four times in a row and they got us in the regional, and ended up getting us in the state championship.

“It’s weird how it kind of rolls in reverse and we are hoping for the same outcome they had last year. Hopefully, we can get through the bracket and give ourselves a chance when we get down there. A really good day of volleyball today.”

Yellowjacket Payton Woodard, who recorded her 1,000th career kill during a 25-17, 25-12 and 25-19 semifinal triumph versus Magnolia (23-14-1), left the finals late in the third set and didn’t return.

Needing a win in the fourth set, things looked bleak when Rae Rupert put one down for an 18-10 lead. It was then 20-10 after Kopshina recorded consecutive aces. A block by Rebekah Rupert got the hosts within a point of finishing off WHS, which trailed 24-15.

“They absolutely stepped up. They just stepped up way too late,” coach Cole said of her squad staving off nine match points before kills by Griffin and Kopshina sealed the crown. “We just have to take today for what it is. We get to go to the state tournament and we need to be ready the next time we play.”

Following a sideout, Georgie Inman served for eight straight points. Becca Shamblin had two kills in the run, Kyndra Johnson had one and Riah Sprouse registered a block.

“A really good day of volleyball today,” added coach Carpenter, whose club ousted 21-5 Wheeling Central 25-21, 23-25, 25-12 and 25-14 in the other semifinal. “I really thought we had to play two of the better single-A teams in the state. I thought Wheeling Central was number two behind Williamstown up there at the top. I know we were in our own gym, which I’m sure helped, but we just beat two of the best teams in single-A today, and back-to-back. We had a great day.”

Needless to say, the Rebel boss was more than happy not to have to go to a fifth set.

“I used both timeouts and you don’t ever know in this game. You really don’t,” Carpenter added. “You use both timeouts and call plays and you still don’t execute, but I guess they decided they really wanted to make it interesting and come back to 24-all, and then get the final two. Hats off to Williamstown. They are so stingy defensively. It’s hard to get the ball to hit the ground.

“I hope Woodard gets to feeling better. She went out in the third set. I hope she’s OK. Hats off to our girls. When it counted and came down to it they made the plays that mattered. That’s the plays we haven’t been making against Williamstown. We almost had them in the sectional. It was really tight. We weren’t getting the points that mattered and they were, and today we happened to get those points.”

In the opening set of the finals, a Rebekah Rupert kill was followed by a Kila Frymier service point as the Rebels pushed ahead 16-14. A kill by Shamblin later tied it at 21, but Griffin answered with a downed spike and Kopshina served for the final three points.

Williamstown tallied three straight points, which included a Sprouse block of Ireland, to go ahead 12-9 in set two. Consecutive service tallies from Baylee Butta squared it 12. The Rebels took the lead for good at 15-14 with libero Marissa Jeffrey serving when Griffin blocked Shamblin.

The blocking of Claire Strobl, who had 10 kills and a dozen stuffs, helped teammate Riley Landis serve for four straight as a seven-all tie in set three quickly turned into an 11-7 ‘Jacket edge. WHS libero Kamryn Haynes, who had 28 digs, registered an ace to make it 22-17. An unforced error by the Rebels later forced set four.

“We definitely didn’t play well at all the second match,” said coach Cole. “We played without one of our starters. I think, too, we sat for an hour or better. You have all that adrenaline in the morning and then you just crash and you’re expected to try and play at a high level again.

“We made mistakes during the game we haven’t made all season. I’m not worried about it. I think it was probably good for us to lose. I think it’s a good learning experience for them. You can be beaten, just because we hadn’t lost to a single-A school this year. I hope they take that as a feeling they don’t like and don’t want to have that again.”

Magnolia was paced in the semifinals by Lauren Gaiser’s seven kills and Julia Lilze’s 17 digs. Jenna Blain, who had five kills and 10 digs, joined teammate Sydney Knight with a pair of aces.

The Maroon Knights were led in their setback by the hitting of Kamy Conners and Nicole Reasbeck, who finished with 19 and 14 kills, respectively. Alexis Hood produced 26 assists and Lainey Peters had a dozen.

Wirt ousted in regional

BUFFLAO — Wirt County’s volleyball team fell one match shy of reaching the Class A state tournament here Saturday at Buffalo in the Class A, Region IV semifinals as the Tigers were upended by Tolsia 21-25, 25-23, 25-20, 27-29 and 15-9.

Freshman Addie Stephens went for 28 kills, Jonna Starcher had 12 and DJ White nine for the orange and black. Jordan Hickman paced the Tigers (29-11) with a quartet of aces and added 11 digs. Ally Nicolais finished with 39 assists and also had two aces. Wirt’s Skylar Bunch contributed an ace, five assists and seven digs.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com