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PHS hosts South, others in Spookfest tourney

By Jay W. Bennett 5 min read

PARKERSBURG -- Host Parkersburg was eliminated in the quarterfinals, Parkersburg South was ousted in the semifinals and Huntington had to settle for a runner-up finish to Woodrow Wilson here Saturday inside Memorial Fieldhouse during the Spookfest tournament as the Flying Eagles of head coach Bre Rhodes successfully defended their title with a 25-20 and 25-16 finals sweep.

The Big Reds of head coach Erin Thorpe, who watched senior Caelyn Wise record her 1,000th career dig versus Central Mountain during pool play, entered the tournament following pool play as the No. 3 seed. However, sixth-seeded Huntington, which lost to PHS 26-24 and 25-22 in pool play, advanced to the semifinals following a 27-25 and 25-21 triumph.

The Highlanders knocked off No. 2 seed Bridgeport 15-25, 25-18 and 15-10 in the semifinals. Fifth-seeded Parkersburg South survived fourth-seeded Cabell Midland, 25-17, 21-25 and 15-11, in the quarterfinals before falling in straight 25-23 sets to the Flying Eagles.

"It's nice to come back and be back-to-back champions," admitted coach Rhodes, who received a match-high 24 assists from Abby Dillon, 11 kills from Salia Harris and nine downed spikes by Alanna Penn in the championship match. "We've had a little bit of a rough season here and there, but we are on the right track right now so that's good.

"We won GW's (Queen of the Hill) tournament the first (weekend) of October. That was the last tournament we were in. It feels good winning two tournaments heading into the playoffs. Everybody played their game and everybody came out to play. Every one of my hitters, defense-wise, everybody came out to play so that's what we need is everyone playing at the same time."

Highlander Mallori Dunn-Martin, who finished with championship match-highs of 12 kills and three aces, tied set one at 14-all with a downed spike from one of Olivia Bell's 18 assists. However, the Flying Eagles took the lead for good at 15-14 on a Harris kill. Libero Emily Gallaher proceeded to toe the service line for coach Rhodes' squad and following a partial block at the net teammate Skylar Jeffery recorded a kill when she hit the ball into an open area. WWHS then had consecutive double blocks to take control as Penn teamed up once with Anya Hasan and the other time with Saira Diehl. Harris put one to the floor following a HHS freeball for set point.

Kayte Perrine had a string of five straight points, which included an ace, as HHS took a 7-4 lead early in set two. Amara Jackson had two kills and joined Alden Jones with a double block in the spurt, but the Flying Eagles took the lead for good at 13-12 after another Harris downed spike. Dillon had her final assist on match-point thanks to an Alexis Coleman kill.

"Huntington is a great team. They are big. They hit hard and they block well. I think we were just back on our heels," admitted coach Thorpe, whose Big Reds have senior night on Tuesday when Little Kanawha Conference runner-up Ritchie County invades. "We started out the day really strong and playing some of the best volleyball I've seen.

"Then we slowly regressed for the rest of the day. We tried a new lineup, something I literally threw at them yesterday (Friday). They took it and did well. We were adapting and have a lot to practice, but I think we will be OK."

The Patriots of first-year head coach Emily Tracewell, who were playing without the services of Payten Mackey, were led in their semifinal setback by Reagan Parsons' match-high 24 assists and Maia Johnson's match-high dozen kills. Hanna Vaught added nine downed spikes and Shyanne Hays had a quartet of kills.

"We are taking the whole week off," said Tracewell, whose team returns to action on Wednesday, Nov. 1 as the No. 3 seed in the sectional at Hurricane against second-seeded PHS. "Payten is obviously a key player in our lineup. She plays six rotations all the way around and really does a lot for our team. The past few days we've had to work in a new lineup moving our libero (Jaslynn Dixon) to outside hitter because she's very consistent and smart with the ball, so we figured that would work best for us.

"Today, this morning, was a little bit of working together and figuring out that we can play together as a team, but I think they were able to turn it around for the afternoon and tournament play and really be able to show what they can do even with the new lineup. It just gives us more hope and confidence that when we get our regular lineup out there they know what they can do."

Vaught had five kills early in set one as South led 9-5 against the Flying Eagles in the semifinals after libero Brylee Hatcher was credited with a point. However, Dalya Hasan was able to serve for six straight points to forge a 12-9 advantage as the Patriots hurt themselves with a quartet of unforced errors.

Parkersburg South, which had six service errors in the opening set, finally tied it at 23-all with Parsons at the service line following back-to-back kills from Johnson, but Diehl's kill gave WWHS set point.

A kill and an ace by Hays put the Patriots ahead 2-0 in set two and South still led 13-11 following a downed spike by Sydney McKee, but later on a bad pass allowed Harris to mash one to the floor, which squared it at 16. Dillon proceeded to serve for five straight points as the Flying Eagles took the lead for good and received match point thanks to a Londen Baker kill.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

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