By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
East Hardy Volleyball caged the Trojans with a 3-1 match victory in the Baker Den: 25-16, 22-25, 25-15 and 25-23.
“I thought we played really hard. We just kept adjusting and Hampshire kept adjusting. We kept moving our hit spot and they kept moving their hit spot. I thought our girls just played really hard today. The girls haven’t had many games to play, so we just play really hard to try and get better. I thought the girls did a really good job of taking care of business. Madison and Morganne did great getting up with their swings. Amelia’s serves were great and I thought Xavia was setting the ball extremely well. As a team, that was really high level volleyball. If we can keep doing stuff like that, good stuff for this team. We were executing well and that’s fun to watch. Take nothing away from Hampshire, they played really well tonight. I thought our offense was able to keep them out of system more than they wanted,” East Hardy coach Chris Hahn remarked.
East Hardy took an early 13-8 lead over Hampshire with attacks by Morganne Miller and Madison Kerr.
After a kill by Hampshire’s Olivia Nichols, the Trojans found the net.
Miller delivered an ace for the Cougars, but the ensuing serve was low.
East Hardy bounced back with Kerr slamming the ball and the next volley met a dig and ricocheted out.
Kerr made a set for Xavia Barber nailing a spike and Kerr blocked a shot before the Trojans touched the net defending Kerr as the Cougars went up 20-10 in the opening set.
Hampshire’s Hisel Keiter blocked a volley and Isabella Mathias created a kill prior to Heiter serving up an ace to cut the deficit to 20-13.
Kerr smacked the ball into a Trojan defender’s face and it took four hits to corral giving the Cougars a point.
Mathias made a block and Kendyl Stewart found the floor, before the Trojans were whistled for a service line violation, 22-15.
Miller notched the final three points for the Cougars to take a 25-16 first set win.
East Hardy’s Amelia Garrett began serving in the second set and Hampshire gathered the first point as Keiter ricocheted the ball off Kerr’s face.
Keiter made a kill as the Trojans took a 2-0 edge.
East Hardy’s Danica Wolfe launched the ball over the net and the Trojans failed to communicate as the ball landed on the court for a point.
Miller’s serve was redirected out off a dig, tying the set.
After a serve into the net, Mathias scored on an attack as Hampshire went back on top 4-2.
Kerr sandwiched spikes around a serve out of play for a 5-4 score.
Hampshire’s Summer Giffin blocked a pair of volleys for a 10-7 edge.
The Cougars rallied as Kerr made a block and Barber executed a dig save crossing the net for a point for a tie, 11-all.
East Hardy’s Emerson Pearce spiked the ball and Barber served an ace, then Garrett fired a volley for a 14-12 edge.
Hampshire’s Lani and Kendyl Stewart sandwiched kills around a block by Kerr for a 15-14 score.
Barber crashed into the bench saving the ball and Savannah Pullen redirected it for a point.
Kendyl Stewart served two aces as the Trojans took a 19-17 lead.
Hampshire took advantage of attacks by Giffin and Mathias to garner a 24-20 lead.
The Cougars earned two points on a Trojans service error and a serve by Barber returned back out of play, but the ensuing serve was swallowed by the net as Hampshire tied the match, 25-22.
“I wouldn’t categorize our season as pretty good. It has been a little up and down, like a roller coaster. We have nights where we play really well and nights where we can’t find the rhythm. That’s how it has been and we have made some switches along the way and trying to find the chemistry. We can’t be in a tight game in be on the service line and serve out of bounds or into the net. We were serving out consistently and not serving in consistently. You can’t have those kind of mental mistakes in a game, because it will be tough. [East Hardy\ They have some aggressive hitters. They are smart players and very disciplined. We always know it will be a dog fight when we play East Hardy,” Hampshire coach Megan Fuller noted.
East Hardy garnered a 4-0 lead to commence the third set as Miller slammed the ball thrice and Garrett served an ace.
After serves out in both directions, Kerr’s volley took four touches to corral and next shot landed on the floor for a 7-1 lead.
Hampshire responded with a block from Keiter and service point by Nichols and two kills by Giffin around a spike by Kerr, 8-5.
East Hardy scored nine straight points sparked by a block by Miller.
Barber avoided a diving defender on the next volley and the momentum continued as Miller pushed a point through a block and slammed a shot.
Garrett served up two aces and Miller blocked an attack for a 21-9 advantage.
Hampshire didn’t go down quietly as Giffin created several kills and Paige Gunther added a spike for a 23015 score.
The Cougars closed out the third set with a spike and block by Kerr, 25-15.
East Hardy grabbed another 4-0 lead starting the fourth set as Miller blocked a shot, Garrett served an ace, Hampshire hit the net and Miller’s volley failed to be returned despite a save by Kensley Connell.
The Trojans created points on blocks Keiter and Lani Stewart, plus an attack by Giffin.
It appeared the Trojans tied the set at 6-all with an ace by Keiter, but a serving rotation issue and jump ball confusion changed the score back in East Hardy’s favor at 7-4.
Kerr launched two attacks for points around a block by Nichols for a 9-5 score.
The Trojans battled back tying the set at 11-all on a spike by Giffin.
After several service errors, Giffin made a kill and block around an ace by Keiter putting Hampshire up 15-13.
Garrett notched a dig save and Kerr hammered the ball to tie the set for the Cougars.
There were three more ties before East Hardy took the lead for good on a kill by Miller, 19-18.
Barber created a push point and Kerr spiked the ball twice around a service error for a 23-21 edge.
Miller finished the fourth set with an attack ricocheting off a dig out of bounds 25-23 as the Cougars won the match 3-1.
