By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
East Hardy Volleyball lost a bunch of seniors from last year’s Class A state runner-up finish, but the young squad is determined to keep the tradition of heading to Charleston going like clockwork.
The Cougars are guided by 17-year veteran coach Marsha Hahn along with assistant coaches Chris Hahn and Lexi Strawderman.
“Goals and expectations for the season are similar to every year. We are striving for a trip to Charleston. We want to win the PVC and get better every single day,” East Hardy Volleyball assistant coach and media relations specialist Chris Hahn commented.
Preparing for another state tournament run commences with hard work in practice on the fundamentals.
“I think that all starts in practice. You know we try to work hard enough on all the skills to be a well-rounded volleyball player and we think if we do that, it’ll give us a good chance to be successful in the postseason,”Coach Hahn stated.
East Hardy will be led by senior outside hitter leader Morganne Miller and senior opposite side hitter Emerson Pearce along with junior middle blocker Madison Kerr to keep the net attacks pouncing.
East Hardy will look to junior Ava Riggle to handle most of the setting duties, while fellow junior Xavia Barber will create some sets when not controlling the opposite hitting range.
East Hardy defensive specialist is junior Danica Wolfe, who has been quickly clearing the floor in practice.
Cougars junior Savannah Pullen has good passing and serving skills.
East Hardy sophomore Amelia Garrett and freshman Charlie Hahn have good net fundamentals with hitting and precision serves.
“This is a new group of girls. We lost a lot of seniors from last season. This group is doing a really good job of figuring out each other’s strengths and weaknesses and working to be the best group that they can be looking forward to see how well they get and anticipate each other as the season progresses,” Coach Hahn noted.
East Hardy is much smaller this season, so there will just be varsity matches starting at 6:00 and a bunch of tri-matches beginning at 5:00.
The Cougars opened the season yesterday in a tri-match against Paw Paw and Tygarts Valley.
East Hardy faces off against the cross county rival YellowJackets in Moorefield tomorrow.
The Cougars compete in the Philip Barbour Tournament, the Hedgesville Pumpkin Smash and host the Class A Potomac Valley Conference Tournament as the defending champions.
“Our schedule is a little different than most years. We don’t have a JV team this year, so we have a lot of tri-matches. It’s gonna be difficult to stay in shape not having a lot of five set matches. We do have a couple of tournaments with Philip Barbour, the PVC Tournament and the Pumpkin Smash that should be a lot of competition that gets us ready for postseason,” Hahn concluded.
