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LKC represented by trio at Class A state volleyball

PARKERSBURG – Defending Class A state champion Wirt County will be joined at the big show come Tuesday morning in Charleston by fellow Little Kanawha Conference members Gilmer County and Ritchie County.

The Tigers of head coach Katie Frazier, who are 31-9-1, will be out for a repeat state crown after knocking off the Titans during last year's title match in four sets.

Wirt County, which finished runner-up to South Harrison in the LKC and defeated Wahama in the co-regional, has the No. 1 seed and will take on No. 8 seed Pendleton County (15-17), which got swept by the orange and black during last year's state quarterfinals.

"We are happy to be back and playing that second week in November," admitted Frazier. "It's been a long season and we've dealt with injuries and lots of lineup changes so we are thankful to be back to Charleston. We are exactly where we want to be and the girls have put us in the best position possible going into the tournament as the one seed.

"Pendleton will be an interesting matchup. We had them in the first round last year and they always show up prepared and ready to play. We will worry about the rest if we can get that one under our belt first, but we are looking forward to another trip to Charleston."

Gilmer County eliminated Tug Valley to make it back to state.

Despite heavy graduation losses from a year ago, the Titans enter the state tournament with a 24-12-1 mark and the No. 4 seed.

Ritchie County and first-year head coach Ashley Davis, who graduated in 2020 from her alma mater, are 18-12 and have the No. 5 seed.

The Titans and Rebels will meet at 8:30 a.m. with Wirt County's match following.

"They just have not quit. They are determined to make the season as good if not better than last year," admitted Stickelman, who returned key components in Kenley Hartshorn, Emeri Hickman and Kaelyn Mullins along with Maggie Snyder and Ari White, who has played a full rotation since the second half of the season. "They had a little bit of a chip on their shoulder coming into this season because there was a lot of speculation if they could even make it this far.

"With losing what we lost last year, you know, rightfully so, but they really showed up and have just had no quit this year. They really thrive under pressure, I think, this year. They’re very adaptable this year as they kind of have to be. We’ve never had a set lineup this season because if we got one lineup then something didn’t work well, so we switched people around.

We had injuries and then we had illnesses and the gamut of things. We’ve had to change things around quite a bit."

Ritchie County and Gilmer County will be meeting for the first time this year..

"I’m excited to get to play them," Stickelman added. "I hate that all of our LKC schools kind of get stacked together. It is what it is. We’re going to just go in with a chip on our shoulder. We show up when competition is tough and that’s what we have to keep doing."

The coach added that Snyder, the returning setter, has gotten help in the 6-2 from Bristol Woodford.

"Bristol has really stepped into that second setter role for me this year," said the coach. "She didn't get a lot of looks on the varsity level last year.

"She’s made huge improvements from last year to this year to step into that position, too."

The senior class for the Rebels, which is led by Chelsie Jeffrey, also features Raelyn Snider, Ava Satterfield and Emma Waugaman.

"The goal for me was always to go back to state, especially with this group of girls because they’ve put in the work since I kind of stepped in last year," Davis said. "They’ve done everything I ever asked them to do.

"In the middle of September when we lost so many in a row the vision kind of disappeared, but then we went on a really hot streak and it kind of came back. My assistant coach (Lucas Henger) and I looked at each other and said ‘we can do this. We can really do this.'”

The Rebels had to go on the road as the No. 5 seed and reached the state tournament by ousting host and top-seeded St. Marys in the regional co-final..

"Our serving was the best we’ve ever had. The other factor was Chelsie Jeffrey," Davis said of what the keys to victory versus the Blue Devils were. "She never gave up on the ball at all. She was everywhere. Back row, front row.

"She even set a couple and got a couple of assists. She was all over the board. In that fourth set my sophomore Sophie Henger went on a 13-point run from the service line and that killed all the momentum that St. Marys had."

Despite having the earliest starting time, Davis and the Rebels had an early morning practice on Saturday and also will have a final one on Monday.

"We’ve been trying to get our girls acclimated to playing in the morning," Davis added. "A lot of the girls like playing in the morning. Some of them do club and that’s what time they usually play anyway.

"Some of them are used to it, but we just got to make sure our nerves are gone before too long of the game. Our serves got to be phenomenal. Our seniors are the only ones that have been there. It’s going to be a whole new ballgame for half my team."

Davis said they've seen some film on the Titans and are preparing for a hopeful upset.

"My assistant coach, he's really been studying them up," Davis said. "He has helped me tremendously.

"It’s his first year of coaching, too, and he’s new at volleyball, but he has really dived in and became invested in the program."

The other half of the Class A bracket, which begins quarterfinal action at 1:30 p.m., features No. 2 East Hardy (26-13) and No. 7 Summit Christian (16-8-2). Following that match, No. 3 Madonna (23-12) and No. 6 Greenbrier West (24-10) square off.

The state semifinals are slated for a 6:30 p.m. start with the teams getting Wednesday off before playing at 9 a.m. Thursday for the title.