Wood County Christian moves on to OVAC final
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WILLIAMSTOWN -- In an OVAC volleyball semifinal matchup between top-seeded Wood County Christian and fourth-seed Trinity Christian, the Wildcats of Wood County achieved victory by a score of 3-0 (25-18, 25-11, 25-21).
Wood County Christian got out to a 3-0 lead to start set one. Haley Wilkinson had an excellent spike a few points later to extend the Wildcats' lead.
However, Trinity was able to tie things up at 11 points a side thanks to an ace by Luciana Citerone. WCCS responded with an ace of its own courtesy of Kylee Border to reclaim the lead.
As Wood County was building itself a nice cushion, Wilkinson contributed a strong spike and an ace a few points later. Near the end of the set, Skylar Wilkinson was able to spike it off to the side away from all of Trinity's players to give WCCS a 24-16 lead. The Wildcats claimed set one by a score of 25-18.
Set two started with an ace by Rowyn Wharton of Wood County.
Back-to-back aces moments later by Sophia Thibault put the Wildcats up 4-1. At this point, WCCS began to run away with the set.
Border got her second ace of the day to put the Wildcats up 10-3. With the score at 12-6, Thibault had an amazing dig that helped extend Wood County's lead to seven. Everyone in the gym thought the point was over. The return of the ball caught Trinity's players off guard mid-celebration. Later, Thibault and Camryn Yoho had back-to-back digs to save a ball that looked like it was certainly going to hit the court.
Wharton then got her second ace of the night to extend Wood County Christian's lead to 17-7. With the score at 19-8 moments later, Thibault got aces on three out of the next four points to put the Wildcats up 23-8. Sophie Seckman scored the final point of the set on a spike that sealed the deal at 25-11.
In the third set, Trinity made it clear that it was not going to give up easy. The Warriors started off the set 2-0. Skylar Wilkinson had a formidable block moments later to tie things up at two points a side. Thibault then got her sixth ace of the day to put WCCS up 4-3. Yoho also contributed an ace that put the Wildcats up 8-4. Gracie Duncan blocked a volley to extend WCCS's lead to 11-4. At this point in the set, there was a clear shift in momentum. Trinity came back with a vengeance. The warriors claimed 12 of the next 17 points, tying things up at 16. The Wildcats stayed calm and rattled off six points in a row to go up 22-16. WCCS was victorious in a highly-contested third set by a score of 25-21.
Wildcats head coach Sarah Spurgeon said of the team's performance against Trinity, "We came out hot like we usually do. We came out really strong in the first set. I was interested to see the girls come out strong again in the second set. This season, we've had a tough time in the second set losing focus and just losing the energy that we have, but I was really proud of them for coming out strong in the first set, the second set and in the third set. By the end of the third set we did start to lose some points there, but we were able to get focused and get back on track."
Spurgeon went on to cover momentum and its impact on the team as well as the sport as a whole, "Momentum in volleyball is a major factor, and it's important to keep it going. One of the biggest things that causes a team to lose momentum, especially our team, is not talking. Not calling the ball, not talking about the ball and not talking about where you're at on the court. When we start assuming, we start losing points and things start malfunctioning."
With the postseason on the horizon, Spurgeon wants the Wildcats to keep pushing, "As we are headed into the postseason, I want to keep our foot on the gas pedal. I just wanna keep the pressure on. I want to keep the girls focused and keep their concentration going so that we can maintain longer stretches of concentration, especially in the postseason. Our schedule gets tougher from here, so we really have to make sure we're staying mentally tough as well as doing all of the right things physically."
The Wildcats are set to take on the winner of Wellsville and Beallsville in the OVAC class 1A championship this Saturday at Union Local High School.
Contact Aaron Lee at alee@newsandsentinel.com