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‘Sad feeling’: South netters stymied by Cabell Midland at state tourney

By Jay W. Bennett 4 min read

CHARLESTON -- No. 5 Parkersburg South received match-highs of 10 kills from Jess Price, three blocks by Izzy Wilson and 24 digs from Natalie Lauer here Wednesday morning in the Class AAAA state quarterfinals, but it wasn’t enough as fourth-seeded Cabell Midland swept the Patriots 25-12, 25-17 and 25-16.

The Patriots of head coach Emily Tracewell failed to find their footing early on against the Knights, who defeated PSHS 2-1 in their lone meeting during the Mountain State Athletic Conference championship match.

“I think it’s just a sad feeling that they weren’t able to show up and put their best effort in playing confidently today after the great season we had so far, but I think it’s good to realize all the younger players we have on our team so we’ll be able to have a few good seasons after this and work even harder to make it further next year,” admitted Tracewell.

Cabell Midland (43-7-2) never trailed in the opening set as Madelyn Cooke registered the first of her team-high nine kills to open the match.

Jaycee Bowen and Kaylee Adkins each recorded one of their match-high three aces and Parkersburg South used its second timeout trailing 15-3 after Brynn Ward picked up one of her match-high 32 assists on a quick set that resulted in a Lucy Johnson kill.

PSHS grabbed a quick 2-1 cushion in set two thanks to a Price kill and an ace by Ella Collins, but the Knights responded with an 8-1 spurt to force a timeout.

The Patriots continued to fight and used blocks by Presley Allen and Wilson along with an Allen kill and a Quinn Bolyard downed spike to help trim the deficit to a quartet, but the closest Tracewell’s squad got was 17-14 when Allen and Wilson had a double block with Lauer serving that forced a timeout by CMHS head coach Emily Gaskins.

However, Lyla Johnson, who joined teammate Katie Lawson with eight kills, put one to the floor to regain momentum.

Lawson, who was joined by Cooke with a pair of blocks, finished off the set with kills for the final two points.

Parkersburg South’s only advantage in the final set came at 3-2 thanks to consecutive Price kills. The Knights responded with a Lawson kill via a Ward quick set and jumped ahead 5-3 with libero Payton Bowyer, who had 23 digs, at the service line thanks to downed spikes by Lyla Johnson and Chloe Anderson.

“We’ll definitely miss them and their leadership and just their dedication to the program,” Tracewell said of seniors Lauer, Wilson and Addi Moon. “It will be sad without them next year, but we’re hoping they move on to bigger and better things.”

Although the campaign didn’t end the way Tracewell wanted it to, she’s hoping brighter days are on the horizon.

“Just that they should use this feeling to want to work harder starting off at the beginning of the season and all of the sophomores that we have on our team to get the freshmen ready for next year and the incoming freshmen and just set the tone for the season to get started off with a good start,” the coach replied when asked what she told the underclassmen.

Aubree Harner, who had an ace and five digs, led the Patriots with eight assists while Bolyard had five and Lauer a quartet.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

Class AAAA state quarterfinals

at Vandalia Health Coliseum

Cabell Midland d. Parkersburg South 25-12, 25-17, 25-16

#5 Parkersburg South (30-12-2) stats: Aubree Harner 1 ace, 8 AST, 5 D; Olivia Conaway 2 K, 3 D, .5 B; Ella Collins 1 ace, 7 D; Quinn Bolyard 5 AST, 3 K, 3 D; Lexi Smith 1 AST, 7 D; Natalie Lauer 4 AST, 24 D; Presley Allen 1 ace, 4 K, 2 B, 1 D; Izzy Wilson 2 K, 3 B; Jess Price 10 K, .5 B

#4 Cabell Midland (43-7-2) stats: Payton Bowyer 2 aces, 23 D; Jaycee Bowen 3 aces, 2 AST, 9 D; Katie Lawson 8 K, 2 B; Lyla Johnson 8 K, 8 D, 1.5 B; Madelyn Cooke 9 K, 2 B; Annmarie Yost 9 D; Lucy Johnson 1 ace, 1 AST, 8 K, 1.5 B, 2 D; Brynn Ward 2 aces, 32 AST, 2 K, .5 B, 2 D; Kaylee Adkins 3 aces, 7 D; Chloe Anderson 3 K, .5 B, 2 D

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