By Carl Holcomb
Moorefield Examiner
It was surfing time for the Yellow Jackets facing rocky waves trying to reach the Vikings ship in Petersburg.
Moorefield Volleyball rode the wave’s crest to win the first match of the night against Clay-Battelle 25-11, 24-26 and 15-11; then went crashing into the sand as the Vikings cruised away with a 2-0 win in the tri-match 25-11 and 25-14.
“We came out against Clay-Battelle and that’s some of the best volleyball I’ve seen us play. That’s a talented we played against, too. It’s hard to play at such highs, then steep to such lows minutes later. I am really proud with how we played against Clay-Battelle and hopefully we can remember that game and build off of it and forget the other one,” Moorefield coach Kellan Snyder remarked.
“Petersburg has their powerhouse when it comes to serving. They serve the ball really well and it’s not more of a survival technique as it is an attack technique. You have to be on your toes and ready to make a good pass and we weren’t doing that. They are strong at the net. Petersburg has several girls who can bring it at you. When we can’t read the sets on some of those, we get lost in transition and they are getting some free swings. When you give a good team like that free swings at the net, it is going to be hard to survive defensively.”
Moorefield opened the match against the Cee-Bees with a spike by Raleigh Kuykendall, but the next volley went out.
Annie Barr provided a kill for the Yellow Jackets, then the floor was kept clear twice on digs from Brenna See before an errant shot out of bounds.
Moorefield regained the lead as Kuykendall slammed the ball and had a serve returned awry.
After an error, Moorefield’s Lexi Vanmeter garnered a spike and See delivered a pair of aces for a 7-3 edge.
Vanmeter kept the attacks flowing to sandwich points around an ace served up by Liddy Keplinger for a 10-5 lead.
The Yellow Jackets scored seven straight points for an 18-8 advantage as Kuykendall swatted three kills and See hammered two spikes during the run with Emmy Crites keeping the floor clear with digs.
Barr, See, Kuykendall and Vanmeter were swinging tough as serves were coming from Kump, Barr and Vanmeter.
A volley by Crites was returned out of play to close the first set for the Yellow Jackets 25-11.
Clay-Battelle started strong in the second set with a 4-0 lead with two kills by McKenzie Watson, plus attacks by Farrah Ammons and Ginger Cross (dig) being redirected askew.
Moorefield countered with a kill from Kuykendall, then Barr delivered two aces prior to a block by Cee-Bees’ Nevaeh St. Clair.
There were errors in both directions before an aces from Clay-Battelle’s Sophia Sandone.
St. Clair put the Cee-Bees up 12-7, then Moorefield started to rally.
Moorefield’s Aubrey Kidwell made a dig and Kump set for Vanmeter to slam the ball.
Crites turned a dig into a point as the ball careened over the net and found an empty space.
Kump served two aces to close the gap 13-12.
A block by Moorefield’s See tied the set and an ace from Barr created a 15-14 lead change.
Ginger Gross landed the ball along the back row line for a Cee-Bees point, then Moorefield answered with a kill from Kuykendall.
Gross made a dig save, but a carrying violation came moments later by a teammate.
A couple errors helped Moorefield take a 20-18 lead, but the Cee-Bees stung back scoring four straight points with attacks by St. Clair and Ammons, despite digs by Crites.
Barr made a push point for the Yellow Jackets, then Clay-Battelle responded with a kill by Ammons and service point by St. Clair for a 24-22 edge.
Kuykendall made two consecutive blocks to tie the set, then got too close to the net on an attack.
An attack by Ammons was deflected out on a block attempt by Kuykendall as the Cee-Bees won the second set 26-24.
The Yellow Jackets were buzzing loudly to commence the third set tiebreaker with a 7-1 lead which included three kills by Kuykendall, two aces by Kump, one ace by Barr and spike by Kump, while the floor was kept pristine with digs by Emmy Crites and Aryana Hinz.
Clay-Battelle rallied to cut the deficit to 10-8 with attacks from Emily Spears, Gross, St. Clair and McKenzie Watson.
Attacks by Kump and Kuykendall down the stretch lifted the Yellow Jackets to a 15-11 third set win, 2-1.
Petersburg started the match against the Yellow Jackets with a spike by Teila Thorne, but Moorefield answered with two kills by Kuykendall.
Addy Day notched a point for the Vikings, then Makenah Shriver served an ace.
Kuykendall blocked a volley for the Yellow Jackets to tie the set.
Petersburg answered with a block and kill by Day, plus service points and dig point from Ayden Mayfield.
The Vikings went up 10-4 on an ace delivered by Thorne.
Moorefield’s Lexi Vanmeter made a dink for a point, then See served and Elizabeth Huffman returned the ball for a kill.
Petersburg’s Miley Tingler notched a spike to take a 15-8 lead.
After errors in both directions, the Vikings got into a groove with three aces by Mayfield and block by Thorne to build a 22-9 lead.
Moorefield collected two more points on errors, but one of their own closed the first set with the Vikings score at 25-11.
Petersburg opened the second set with a spike by Tingler, then Moorefield’s Hinz made an amazing save leading to a point.
The Vikings went up 4-1 as Tingler landed a kill and Blair Loy served an ace.
The Yellow Jackets responded with spikes by Barr and Kuykendall.
Petersburg’s Mayfield slammed the ball before gracefully landing an ace, then Thorne hammered the ball for an 8-4 edge.
Vanmeter buried the ball for the Yellow Jackets, then the ensuing volley found the net.
Tingler got two push points for a 14-7 Vikings lead.
See collected a point on an attack to make it 17-11, but the next serve went into the net.
Crites and Kidwell made digs for the Yellow Jackets.
Vanmeter spiked the ball for a 19-13 score, but the Vikings answered with a kill by Day.
Petersburg finished the match with a splash of two straight aces by Day for a 25-14, 2-0 match victory.
“Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies are like gold around these girls [pre-game snack],” Petersburg coach Shannon Earle stated.
“We play tougher competition and used to people hitting. We were just at Greenbrier for a tournament playing quad-A schools and when you start to play those bigger teams, the other teams seem easier. I think Moorefield is a good team, but when you are playing those teams it helps. We are playing more together as a team. I thought we served well tonight and our passing was good. Blair Loy moving back to pass has been a huge help. Passing was the difference in the game for us. We have worked hard on serving, too.”
The Yellow Jackets JV squad were the masters of the waves with complete sweep over the Cee-Bees and Petersburg bringing a lot of joy to the court.
Moorefield hosts South Harrison this Saturday afternoon.
