by Jamie Harris
In a thrilling display of resilience and skill, the Paw Paw Lady Pirates volleyball team etched their names in the school’s history books. The Lady Pirates made program history by making it to the Class A Region II Co-Finals before falling to Moorefield in a five set thriller (25-23, 22-25, 29-27) in the opening round of regionals. The regional tournament was held on Saturday, November 8 at Berkeley Springs High School gym.
Paw Paw (8-9) started their historic day with a come from behind 3-1 victory over regional tournament host, Berkeley Springs. After dropping the first set 25-14 the Lady Pirates roared back to take the next three sets (25-18, 25-20, and 25-22).
“We competed well in our first ever regional tournament win. It was a goal to get to the regional championship game,” stated Paw Paw Head Coach Flaurie Mathias. “They set three goals for themselves this season: have a winning record, win a sectional title, and get to the regional championship game for a shot at the state tournament.”
“I am very proud of this group of girls for digging deep and getting one step closer to their goals. It was a huge step for this program.”
Paw Paw’s historic run came to an end in the regional co-finals after putting in the Regional Soccer Semi-Finals. The Lady Pirates lost a hard fought five set thriller to Moorefield. Leading the way for Paw Paw was Captain Maddie Close and MacKenzie Moorefield. Paw Paw was able to pull out the first set 25-23. Moorefield evened the match at 1-1 with a 25-22 win in set two. The Lady Pirates then took a thrilling 29-27 win to take a 2-1 lead in the match. Moorefield then took the next two sets 25-15 and 15-9 to win the match 3-2.
“As a coach, all I can ask my team to do is leave it all on the floor and they did just that. It came down to which team could make the plays at the end,” stated Coach Mathias. “We’ve had this fun rivalry with Moorefield. We’ve had some battles throughout the years. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for this rivalry.”
Moorefield then advanced to the Regional Finals at 6 p.m. at Berkeley Springs facing Moorefield. Moorefield had defeated Tucker County in the regional semi-finals. Moorefield defeated Moorefield in the regional finals 3-0 by the scores of 25-17, 25-19, and 25-22 to earn a trip to the WV State Volleyball Tournament in Charleston. Moorefield will join Moorefield at the state tournament.
In the Class AA Regional Finals at Philip Barbour High School, the Keyser Lady Tornadoes dropped a 3-0 decision to the host Colts, where they would fall 25-14, 25-16, and 25-16 in the Co-Championship game on Saturday evening.
The loss snapped a 12-match winning streak for the Jefferson County Tournament and Sectional Champion Colts. In straight sets to move on, the Colts won by scores of 25-15, 25-14, 25-12. Earlier in the day, Moorefield defeated Moorefield in five sets (25-22, 19-25, 25-20, 21-25, 15-13) in what proved to be a back-and-forth thriller to keep their season alive and earn the state tournament berth.
The Philip Barbour Lady Colts will be making their ninth straight trip to the state tournament. The Colts have won six state championships in that span. In the Class AA Region II Championships, the Philip Barbour volleyball team earned a three-set win over Frankfort (25-14, 25-15, 25-12), and then claimed the regional title by winning three sets over Keyser (25-14, 25-16, 25-16).
The Colts will head to the WVSSAC State Volleyball Tournament for the 24th straight season.
