By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
The Cougars slashed the Vikings ship making it sink with a straight set match victory in Petersburg on Patriot Day: 25-14, 25-19 and 25-14.
“I thought we did a pretty good job of turning it on, but we came out a little bit flat. Our serve-receive was a little weak and we couldn’t get our sets high for spikes and find the floor early. They refocused there and started hitting with power. Morganne [Miller] and [Madison] Kerr started getting their swings in and we were rolling after that. I thought we did a good job changing up our offense and defense and the girls adjusted well to that tonight,” East Hardy assistant coach Chris Hahn remarked.
Petersburg kept the first set close in the beginning, then the Cougars pounced with seven straight points building a 17-7 advantage featuring Morganne Miller’s spikes off sets from Xavia Barber along with service accuracy of Madison Kerr during that stretch.
There was a slight momentum shift as the Vikings notched three consecutive points which included a kill by Elizabeth Huffman and an ace delivered by Addy Day.
The Cougars responded as Miller pushed an attack through a block and Savannah Pullen served an ace for a 19-10 lead.
Petersburg’s Miley Tingler made a kill and Teila Thorne blocked a volley before a dig by Pullen ricocheted out.
Miller collected a point on an attack and Amelia Garrett served an ace for a 21-13 lead in the first set.
East Hardy closed out the set with three straight serves by Miller which couldn’t be corralled for a 25-14 score.
The Cougars opened the second set with an ace served by Amelia Garrett, then Miller landed a spike and the Vikings hit the net off another serve, 3-0.
After an error, Petersburg collected two aces from Blair Loy to tie the set.
East Hardy regained the lead with a kill and ace from Miller, followed by a carrying violation on the Vikings for a 6-3 edge.
East Hardy hit the net, then Petersburg’s Ayden Mayfield served an ace and Tingler tied the set with a spike.
The Cougars scored the next four points with the help of several errors and a kill by Kerr.
Tingler broke that streak with a kill, but East Hardy responded with seven straight points as Barber delivers two aces and Emerson Pearce slammed the ball twice.
Huffman earned a point off a deflection for the Vikings before Taylan VanMeter garnered an ace.
The Vikings hit the net, then Pullen served and Amelia Garrett blocked a shot.
East Hardy went up 23-13 on an ace by Miller, but the Vikings put on the rally caps scoring six points in a row which included three aces from Mayfield to close the gap to 23-19.
Kerr launched an attack which careened off a Vikings dig attempt for a point, then there was confusion on a volley placement during a serve by Charlee Hahn along the back line and jump ball was called before a rotation violation on Petersburg.
After sorting things out, East Hardy was back at the service line with Hahn’s serve returning into the net to close out the second set 25-19.
The Cougars commenced the third set with five straight kills by Miller and a serve by Garrett was volleyed back out of play for a 6-0 lead.
Mayfield recorded a spike for the Vikings, then East Hardy came back with four more points on attacks by Kerr and Petersburg miscues.
Kerr and Miller created spikes for a 12-3 lead.
An attack by Garrett was met with a dig and couldn’t be redirected, then the Vikings hit the ball four times prior to a kill from Miller for an 18-5 advantage.
Petersburg’s Addy Day tapped the ball over for a point and delivered an ace and another serve was returned awry to cut the deficit to 18-8.
Barber garnered a push point for the Cougars for a 24-13 lead, then the Vikings countered with a kill by Day.
An attack by Kerr was saved by Makena Shriver, then Kerr found the floor on the ensuing volley for the match point victory 25-14, 3-nil overall.
