Parkersburg’s Ava Sayre, left, makes a pass to Kelina Utietiang (23) during Tuesday’s Class AAAA state quarterfinal match against Hedgesville. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

CHARLESTON – Parkersburg first-year head coach Tammy Fisher’s eighth-seeded Big Reds had early leads in the opening two sets of Tuesday’s Class AAAA state quarterfinal, but defending champion Hedgesville improved to 40-9-3 following a 25-15, 25-14 and 25-16 victory.

The Big Red senior trio of Kennedy Porter, who registered a dozen kills, Ava Sayre and libero Brenan Harvey competed for the final time together. Sayre had an ace, seven assists and a trio of kills while Harvey added to her 1,000-plus career digs and chipped in a pair of assists and three service tallies.

“They are the defending state champions and got a lot of experience,” admitted coach Fisher, whose squad finished 21-19-4. “You got to understand something. Out of the 19 kids I brought down not one of them had played on the state tournament floor. None of them. All my seniors were freshmen that watched and Kennedy’s only had experience, but that’s in basketball. Yeah, it’s disappointing, but we’re in against the best of the best. I couldn’t ask for better seniors.

“I mean they carried this team and they have just done a phenomenal job working and trying to get these kids where we wanted them to be. Hey, nobody thought we would ever make it to the state. Nobody believed that we could be where we are. The future looks bright. Thank the good Lord above that Kennedy and Ava and Brenan got to come down here again as seniors and play. That was their goal from their freshman year after they lost. Thank God they were able to do that. I give him all the glory for those three great seniors, their leadership, all the kids, all the parents.”

Porter, who was named the Mountain State Athletic Conference’s Player of the Year, opened the quarterfinal with a kill, Sayre followed with an ace and it was 4-0 Big Reds after Calista Mace put one to the floor via a Harvey assist.

Parkersburg's Ava Sayre, left, makes a pass to Kelina Utietiang. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Porter’s second downed spike made it 7-3 and it was still 8-5 Big Reds thanks to a Saige Ashcroft kill.

However, Gracie Brown strung together consecutive aces to draw the Eagles even at eight as coach Fisher called timeout.

Thanks to a Sayre kill and a Porter smash via one of Kelina Utietiang’s 10 assists, the Big Reds stayed in front at 12-10. Although an ace by Gillian Sykes pushed HHS to a 13-12 cushion, another Porter attack found the floor to tie it.

Hedgesville then went on a 9-0 spurt that was capped by back-to-back aces from Emory Groves.

Despite a kill from Chloe Gribble that staved off the first set point, the Eagles grabbed the lead in the best-of-five match via a Brown kill.

Parkersburg's Kennedy Porter tips the ball. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

A Porter kill with Harvey toeing the service line put the red and white on the board first in set two, but two straight kills from Emme Bishop and one by Parker Sutherland quickly turned the tide. Chloe Gribble and two kills while Mace and Ily Bowman had one apiece, but the Eagles moved ahead 15-8 and never looked back.

HHS opened up set three by going ahead 4-0 as the Big Reds still trailed 13-7 after consecutive downed spikes from Mace and Porter.

A kill by Ashcroft kept the deficit at 10, 19-9, as Brown’s downed spike got the Eagles to match point.

With Utietiang serving, she helped stave off a quartet of match points and it was 24-16 after her ace, but one more kill by Brown via a Lauren Barnhart assist punched the Eagles’ ticket to the semifinals.

“(Assistant coaches) Sara (Dunn) and Katie (Wise) did a great job,” added coach Fisher. “Nobody can say how cool it is to coach with your daughter. I was pregnant with her when I was coaching. She’s been to all my state tournaments. I just can’t say enough.

“It was pretty cool to come down here and her being my assistant. Not too many people can say that and the kids believed in Katie and I and Sara. Sometimes they would laugh at Katie and I bickering because we are mother and daughter.”