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Parkersburg South tops George Washington in four sets

Natalie Lauer records 1,000th career dig

By Jay W. Bennett 6 min read

PARKERSBURG -- In a Mountain State Athletic Conference battle of the Patriots here Tuesday on senior night inside Rod Oldham Athletic Center, George Washington was unable to hold late leads in the opening two sets as Parkersburg South posted a 25-21, 25-23, 20-25 and 25-17 victory.

Prior to the match, Parkersburg South seniors Addison Moon, Lexi Smith and Natalie Lauer, who recorded her 1,000th career dig, were honored along with GW's Lily Krason and Julia Martino.

The visiting Patriots of second-year head coach MacKayla Boggs led 21-20 in set one and held advantages of 17-11 and 23-17 in set two, but were unable to close out either.

"It was supposed to be a surprise, but I did know and I was a little nervous when I knew I had one more," admitted Lauer, who had two aces, of the milestone. "Just all the emotions and everything, I'm so glad we got to bring them back down and put them back into the game in a positive way with energy and not sadness or anything. It's been a very good run this season and I'm excited to see what comes next."

Presley Allen, who had 10 kills and only trailed teammate Jess Price's 14 downed spikes for match-high honors, served up the first of her two aces to get the match going for the hosts.

GW tied the opening set at 20 when Jordyn Casto hit the back line for a kill via an Ali Arbogast assist and the visitors moved ahead 21-20 after Payton Baskin had a block.

However, a kill from Smith earned the host Patriots a side out and Allen closed things out from the service line with the final four points as Smith got another downed spike for set point.

Aces by GW libero Abby Johns, Arbogast and Ella Justice helped the visitors to a 9-5 cushion in set two and it was still 15-10 GW following a Martino assist to Liv Elllis.

Parkersburg South, which improved to 21-7-1 and heads Saturday to Parkersburg's Spookfest Tournament, continued to fight and after a Price kill and two downed spikes from Olivia Conaway the hosts only trailed 23-21.

Smith ended up serving for the final six points as the host Patriots took a commanding 2-0 edge in the best-of-five match. Conaway's solo block of Ellis knotted it at 23 and then Price and Conaway double blocked Bella Anderson to reach set point, which was earned when a bad serve-received by GW resulted in an easy Price kill.

PSHS only trailed 16-13 in set three after Quinn Bolyard had a kill from one of Peyton Gossett's 15 assists. However, GW never let it get any closer as the visitors received set point when South was called for being in the net.

Parkersburg South jumped out to an 8-1 lead in the final set as coach Boggs called timeout. PSHS then pushed ahead 10-1 thanks to a Bolyard kill and a Gossett ace. GW was doubled up at 20-10 after Conaway put one to the hardwood via the last of Aubree Harner's match-high 17 assists.

George Washington, which slipped to 19-13-1 and welcomes in Spring Valley and Huntington for a triangular match on Thursday, tried to make a late push with kills by Lauren Arbogast, Ali Arbogast and Baskin, but 22-16 was as close as the Patriots got.

"I still don't think we've played the best we can play yet, but I'm hoping that will come by the end of the season," said South head coach Emily Tracwell. "We are working really hard at practice to keep moving faster and just getting multiple balls in a row with aggressive kills and those types of things, and I think they were able to show a little of that in the fourth set."

Justice finished with a match-high six aces and added five kills in the setback. GW also received 16 assists from Martino, three aces, six kills and 13 assists from Ali Arbogast along with eight kills by Casto and seven apiece from Ellis and Anderson.

"One of our starters went down, which you can't blame that," said Boggs. "We just weren't able to finish a lot of what we needed to, so we'll just get back in the gym tomorrow and figure it out. I'm proud of them.

"They could've given up that fourth set and just let them walk all over us and they didn't. They had some fight to them and we had girls playing positions they haven't played yet. They could've just laid down and they didn't, so I have to give them that."

Smith paced the host Patriots with a trio of aces while Allen was joined with a pair of aces by teammate Ella Collins.

"Addi has been injured since the very beginning, sadly, and she is playing college softball, so she's trying to figure that out before she gets to softball season, but she's also a great sport to have on the bench and at practice and cheering for the girls," added Tracewell. "Lexi was also hurt and she's only been back for a few games.

"It was good to see her be able to be out there the whole time and really go on those serving runs because we've been needing that consistency while she was out. Natalie, she's someone that just always works hard. Wherever the ball is on the court and she's wondering if she's supposed to get that, we tell her that she is supposed to get it, and she's usually doing her best to be able to get the ball in the air. We're super proud of all of them this season."

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

At Rod Oldham Athletic Center

Parkersburg South d. George Washington 25-21, 25-23, 20-25, 25-17

George Washington (19-13-1) stats: Ella Justice 11 pts, 6 aces, 5 K; Julia Martino 7 pts, 2 aces, 16 AST; Ali Arbogast 6 pts, 3 aces, 13 AST, 6 K; Payton Baskin 6 pts, 1 AST, 2 K; Abby Johns 3 pts, 1 ace, 2 AST; Luz Quaranta 1 pt; Liv Ellis 3 pts, 7 K; Jordyn Casto 8 K; Bella Anderson 7 K; Lauren Arbogast 2 K

Parkersburg South (21-7-1) stats: Presley Allen 10 pts, 2 aces, 10 K; Natalie Lauer 6 pts, 2 aces; Lexi Smith 16 pts, 3 aces, 8 K; Ella Collins 6 pts, 2 aces; Quinn Bolyard 2 pts, 1 AST, 3 K; Peyton Gossett 4 pts, 1 ace, 15 AST; Aubree Harner 17 AST; Olivia Conaway 1 AST, 3 K; Jess Price 14 K

Next matches: Spring Valley/Huntington at George Washington on Thursday; Parkersburg South at PHS Spookfest on Saturday.

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