East Hardy came, saw and conquered all competition at the Potomac Valley Rally Volleyball Tournament without losing a single set and sealing the title over the host Vikings in the championship.
Petersburg (AA) welcomed seven teams to the Potomac Valley Rally: East Hardy (A), Frankfort (AA), Keyser (AAA), Grafton, Elkins (AAA), Lincoln (AA) and Preston (AAA).
The Cougars proved being the smallest team doesn’t matter as heart and determination can elevate and rally to overcome bigger obstacles.
Class A No. 5 East Hardy commenced the Potomac Valley Rally run to becoming an undefeated champion with a victory against Class AAA No. 16 Preston 25-16 and 25-21.
The Cougars kept the momentum going with two-set win over Class AA Lincoln 25-19 and 25-9.
The third match of the Potomac Valley Rally for the Cougars was over Class AA Grafton with a score of 25-21 and 25-9.
East Hardy earned a trip to the finals keeping the tournament undefeated record intact spiking Class AAA Elkins 25-11 and 25-14.
The Cougars served up the Potomac Valley Rally dinner chewing up the Vikings 25-23 and 25-16.
Petersburg’s journey to face off against the Cougars started with a tie against Elkins 24-26 and 25-19, then beat Grafton 25-21 and 25-11, tied against Preston 25-16 and 21-25, and defeated Lincoln 25-17 and 25-7.
Petersburg senior Miley Tingler earned her 1,000th career kill against Elkins during the Potomac Valley Rally opener and a special ceremony was reserved for the championship match.
The Cougars had several volleys rocketed in an overzealous manner to fall behind 6-1 against the Vikings to commence the Potomac Valley Rally championship match.
Tingler added to the damage with a spike and Vikings teammate Claire Kaposy landed an ace.
East Hardy settled down and battled back as Madison Kerr recorded a kill and block, plus teammates Xavia Barber and Hannah Riggle notched spikes to cut the deficit to 8-5.
After a point by Tingler, the Cougars responded with a block by Amelia Garrett and the double block defense forced an error out of play.
East Hardy’s Danica Wolfe had a serve returned into the net for a 9-8 score.
Garrett tied the game twice on kills sandwiching a serving error, then the Vikings had two attacks go awry and Garrett found the floor again to create a 13-11 edge.
The Cougars kept swinging as Garrett delivered two more spikes and Madilyn Funk and an attack recoil into the net for a 16-11 Cougars lead.
Petersburg regrouped and fired back with kills by Tingler and Kaposy served up aces in a rally to regain the lead 18-17 coming on another Tingler spike.
There would be four more ties down the stretch with the Cougars rallying from a 23-21 setback.
East Hardy scored the final four points of the championship first set as Garrett had an unreturnable attack and Funk spiked the ball before Garrett pushed the final two points for the 25-23 win.
East Hardy kept the momentum going to take a 4-0 edge in the second set of the championship as Kerr hammered three shots and Garrett served an ace.
The Vikings rallied to tie the set at 4-all as Teila Thorne garnered two kills and Jayla Bierkamp added another to tie it.
The Cougars went back on top as Kerr blocked a volley and Charlee Hahn served an ace for a 6-4 edge.
The Vikings hit several shots out of bounds and a kill by Garrett elevated East Hardy to a 12-6 lead.
Tingler and Garrett traded two spikes apiece for a 14-9 score.
Funk and Garrett kept swinging for the floor to help lift the Cougars to an 18-10 advantage.
Wolfe had a shot ricochet towards the Vikings bench which couldn’t be saved on a crash course, 22-16.
Barber sealed the title with an ace, 25-16.
The Cougars celebrated the Potomac Valley Rally championship victory with a simultaneous team leap into the air full of joy and smiles.
“It’s just like the rest of the season, we try to use every set as a chance to get better and sharpen the blade for tournament time. They take it very serious. When you come into tournaments, you have to be ready to play as two sets happen fast. You can’t ever get behind. They did a great job following the game plan and staying focused. They did their thing and that’s what is important. All day today, they did a good job of doing things purposefully. Winning is fun. We don’t put pressure on them. They had fun and saw it as a great opportunity to play good competition and they did it,” East Hardy volleyball assistant coach Chris Hahn remarked.
East Hardy is showing tremendous determination on a return quest to the state tournament this season.
