Familiarty in Class A: Williamstown, Wirt meet in first round at state tournament

PARKERSBURG — Buffalo, last year's Class A runner-up, was given the No. 1 seed ahead of the West Virginia state volleyball tournament set to get underway at 8:30 a.m. today in the capital city when No. 4 East Hardy faces No. 5 Ritchie County in the quarterfinals.

Seventh-seeded Wirt County, which just swept Buffalo to win its regional at Ravenswood, makes a return trip to Charleston after a one-year hiatus. The Tigers tangle with two-time defending state champ Williamstown at 1:30 p.m.

"Yeah, that's a pretty tough task first round," admitted orange and black head coach Katie Frazier, whose 23-8-2 Tigers are led by senior setter Ally Nicolais and sophomore spiker Addie Stephens. "We're just fortunate to be there.

"Our sectional and regional games were both pretty tough competition. Williamstown is loaded as always and they haven't seemed to have had much trouble with anyone this year so we know they'll be ready to play. Our girls are just happy to make the trip back to Charleston."

The 'Jackets of head coach Rachelle Cole, who enter at 27-13-5 and are 1-2 against the Tigers, weren't at full strength the first setback. Williamstown didn't have their current rotation in place the second time around, which has been consistent for the past month or so.

Buffalo (41-4-4) will look to bounce back from its regional showing around 10:30 a.m. versus No. 8 Pendleton County (23-8-2), while the final afternoon quarterfinal marks the sixth meeting this year between James Monroe and Greenbrier West.

The No. 3 Mavericks (37-4) won three of the first four versus No. 6 GWHS (32-15-5), but came up short in the regional. James Monroe's only other losses are to Williamstown and Princeton.

"I told the girls to be ready to play hard every single point because literally, this field, anyone could put anybody out, I think," said coach Cole, who watched junior Becca Shamblin notch her 1,000th career kill in the regional. "I can't say enough good things about all the girls, but Becca and Claire (Strobl) are so solid and we look at them as leaders and someone who is going to get the job done, but they are not the only two. We put a lot of pressure on (setter) Kyndra's (Johnson) shoulders and we have for two years, and she's responded really well to that.

"I think she leads this team really well, just like quietly. She's a really good quiet leader on the team, but then too, Riley Landis, we asked her to step up and be a hitter this year just when we wanted to change the lineup. I have four girls that never leave the floor. They play all the way around all the time and that's kind of unique. We've never had that many stay in all the time, and it's tiring. I think they've done a good job of handling that when we've asked them to do it."

The semifinals begin at 6:30 p.m. with the title tilt set for early Thursday afternoon following the double-A final at 11 a.m. and the Class AAA finale.

One person who thought she had a chance to at least compete for a state championship back in 2020 was then Parkersburg Catholic freshman Akhia Miller, who joins Strobl and Landis in the senior class.

"I have not been to state," Miller said after winning the regional title against host Ritchie County. "This is my first year.

"We would've went to state. It was just taken from us and now I have another opportunity to go there and try to win the state."

Parkersburg Catholic and Williamstown had each qualified at Ritchie County for the state tournament back in 2020, but due to the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources utilizing the color-coded county map for the coronavirus pandemic, the teams were banned from competing in Charleston, but were allowed to purchase tickets and attend.

Miller is just thankful for the opportunity at hand with all her new teammates.

"It was really welcoming. I love this team and it's just been really great for me," she said while adding of getting past the Rebels, "it's always a good match when we play them. It was really exciting."

No one was more happy than Shamblin, who knew she was nearing her 1,000th career kill.

"We all love each other and we bond together on and off the court and it shows out there, I think," said the now evidently ambidextrous Shamblin, who has a knack for utilizing her left arm at the most inopportune time for opposing defenses. "Defense is key. I've always thought that one of our strengths is our serve-receive, and I think we have done such a good job improving all the other factors around it.

"As long as our defense is on everything else will fall in place, I think. At the beginning of the year we started off a little bumpy. We had new girls coming in and didn't know where they were going to go on the court. Like right before playoffs started we grouped together and we put in our heads that we have to go in and play hard like no matter what. All the girls together, we just meshed. We finally meshed together and it just feels great together."

Landis had a few thoughts about her final campaign.

"Akhia is like our missing piece. She's just meshed perfectly with us," Landis said. "We played a really tough schedule. It can be kind of defeating to keep losing, but we are playing really good teams and it's just going to make us better.

"I think our biggest thing (to three-peat) is our energy and getting a kill off serve-receive. If we do those two things good things happen for us. Defense is really important. We just have to be really scrappy and if we are diving after balls and getting touches on things, like that's all we can ask for."

Although the Yellowjackets will lose their trio of seniors, if they can navigate to another title a four-peat could be on the horizon.

"She does amazing," Shamblin added of the much-appreciated Johnson. "She was my setter through middle school. Coming into high school I had Lakyn (Joy) for a year, which was great, and I loved it.

"Such a huge change from middle school, obviously. Kyndra has done so well. I'm so happy to have her be my setter and she's my best friend like on the court. I just love it. It's so fun to play with her."

The 23-13-1 Rebels of first-year boss Michelle Jones will square off against East Hardy (29-3-3) for the first time.

"I hadn't seen them play this year, but did take some time over the weekend to watch some games online and make some notes," stated the coach. "They have a couple girls that hit well, but I don't think it's anything we haven't seen this year with some of the teams we play in season. We're fine-tuning the little things at practice. For us, communication is key. If we come out talking, we can play with anyone, and have a great chance of bringing home a championship.

"I am extremely proud of my team and how hard they have worked this year. We started off with a few little bumps here and there after losing a strong senior class last year, but I think we came together and are peaking at just the right time. I have said so many times this season, not only do I have a talented group of athletes, but they are a great group of girls in general, and I'm blessed to be part of their lives."

The transition as the new head coach was smooth according to Jones, who took over for Matt Carpenter. It also doesn't hurt to have a pair of talented full rotation players in Jayci Gray and Sydney Kopshina.

"The transition didn't seem too hard for me because I either currently, or have previously, coached all but one of the girls on the roster in basketball and, or track," noted the coach. "I came into a team with a great foundation and was able to just build on that rather than completely start over and that has definitely helped with the success of our season.

"We talked about the potential and expectations of returning to Charleston this season from the very beginning. I have never doubted their ability to be successful on the court this year. I don't think they always believe in themselves as much as coach (Ellen) Butcher and I do, but they have bought into our plan and are really coming together."