The Wirt County volleyball team celebrates after defeating Huntington St. Joe in the Class A, Region IV Co-Final Tuesday in Elizabeth. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

ELIZABETH — In a battle of two Class A programs featuring zero seniors on either side here Tuesday evening, Huntington St. Joe had no answer for Wirt County junior Addie Stephens as the Tigers punched their ticket to next week’s state tournament after sweeping the Irish 25-18, 25-18 and 25-12 during a Region IV Co-Final.

Bella Starcher served the Tigers to a 7-0 lead in the opening set as Stephens put five to the floor. Orange and black setter Breigyn Dawson, who put up a match-high 35 assists, had a kill via a Peyton McKown assist, while Starcher also added a downed spike.

HSJ, which just restarted its program last year, closed it to 12-9 following a Katie Vickers kill and ace.

An ace from Katherine Lemley and consecutive kills from Brooke Mills pushed the hosts ahead 16-10.

Kamden Berry-Bruce’s ace kept the Irish within five at 17-12. It was 17-14 after Ava Gallion blocked McKown, but the Irish couldn’t get any closer. Second-year head coach Ashlee Gallion’s squad still trailed by three, 21-18, when Vickers put one to the floor with libero Brooklyn Anderson at the service line.

Wirt County's Izzy Speece passes the ball following a short serve by Huntington St. Joe during the Tigers' 25-18, 25-18 and 25-12 Class A, Region IV, Co-Final victory Tuesday night. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

However, Tigers libero Makayla Moore, who had a match-high nine digs, served for the final three tallies, which included an ace to get to set point.

“They’ve done everything that they can to put themselves in this position,” admitted fifth-year Tiger boss Katie Frazier, who got match-highs of seven aces and 24 kills from Stephens. “Anything that we ask of them they try really hard to do. It’s sometimes hard without that senior leadership, but up to this point our upper class, our junior class specifically, has stepped up and it’s really across the board.

“They take accountability and they really make each other work and stay on each other in a good way. As far as from beginning to end, it’s just been a team thing, for sure. I think progression is definitely our goal, especially being so young. We had some silly stuff tonight. Errors that probably should not have happened, but it’s a learning curve. Just getting them experience every game is how we try to look at it.”

Wirt County, which will enter Charleston with a 27-12 record, survived 10 service errors.

An ace from Vickers along with a Tiger pass that went out of play gave the Irish their first lead of the match at 6-5. Addy Gallion’s kill from one of Ava Gallion’s nine assists made it 8-6, but the Tigers took the lead for good at 11-10 thanks to an ace by Dawson.

Wirt County's Izzy Speece (19) and Brooke Mills (4) protect the net Tuesday night during the Tigers' 25-18, 25-18 and 25-12 sweep of Huntington St. Joe during a Class A, Region IV, Co-Final. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

St. Joe fell behind 3-0 to open set three as Stephens had two kills and Starcher an ace.

Following back-to-back aces by Stephens, coach Gallion called timeout down 10-3 to try and rally her squad.

However, there was no denying the Tigers as the lead moved to 14-6 following one of four Izzy Speece kills, and the Irish trailed by 10 at 16-6 following an ace from Cate Wigal.

Stephens served for the final five points, which included two aces, as Mills’ kill sealed the regional triumph.

“We’re all underclassmen and we don’t have any seniors this year, so we’ll all return,” said coach Gallion, whose team finished 19-14. “We had very strong sectional play last week and the girls played with their hearts and they came out and wanted it, so the fact that we got here I’m super proud of them. We beat some big teams and some very competitive teams in our section to make it here. That clinched our spot here. Tonight was not our best night. The girls are tired. We played a lot of volleyball last week. They had school today.

Wirt County's Addie Stephens serves up one of her match-high seven aces during the Tigers' 25-18, 25-18 and 25-12 Class A, Region IV, Co-Final victory Tuesday night against Huntington St. Joe. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“A long drive up here. I mean I could make excuses, but it just wasn’t our best night. We hope to be back and be able to make a run for the state tournament next year. I told them don’t walk out of here with their heads hanging because I feel like they played good and played with heart. They worked really hard and it shows what they are capable of doing and I think the goal next year is definitely to make it to the state tournament. We got to keep working in the offseason.”

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com