Gallery by Ashley HonakerĀ
Charmco – When Greenbrier West and James Monroe get together, no matter the sport, it is far from a low-key tussle.
One week prior to what is projected to be a top-five showdown on the gridiron Friday between the schools, the ladies took center stage Saturday afternoon in the Class A Coalfield Conference volleyball championship match.
As expected, the energy on both sides was electric.
Stinging from two losses to the Mavericks earlier this season, the Cavaliers rebounded Saturday with a 2-0 (25-22, 25-21) victory to repeat as conference tournament champions.
“Obviously we look at James Monroe as one of our big competitors in this area. They have beat us twice already in close matches. We have been working hard in practice and they are a team team that we know we need to be able to compete with,” Greenbrier West head volleyball coach Joe Robertson said. “It is going to be a close match like that every time that we play them. It will be an emotional battle because they get fired up and we get fired up.”
Both teams went methodically about its business in pool play, as well as in the semifinal round of the championship tournament, barely challenged.
That all changed quickly.
The intense energy of the championship match was best shown on the second point of the opening set for the Cavaliers.
Running down an errant ball, Preslee Treadway went crashing into her teammates on the bench, allowing West to get the ball back across the net. The junior all-stater then secured the point with a kill on the next possession which sent her teammates into a joyous frenzy.
“This was exactly what I expected today,” James Monroe head coach Julie Bradley said. “Not that we would lose, of course, but I expected Greenbrier West to come out strong. We were on their home court and they wanted to win.”
Treadway then backed up the hustle play with another kill that helped push West out to a 6-1 lead. The opening run included kills from Paige Dean and Ava Price, along with an ace from Riley Robertson. Robertson was also the calm inside the storm with 18 assists in the match for the Cavs.
West built the lead to five points and held a 13-9 advantage before the Mavs went on a 4-0 run to tie the opening set.
“We know each other really well. They know where our weaknesses are and we know where their weaknesses are a little bit,” Robertson said. “It is like a chess match back and forth and it’s fun. It is a roller-coaster every time and most of the time it is who makes that last run at the end. Today it was us, last time it was them.”
Trailing 17-15, James Monroe tied the set with kills from Ava Dunlap and Sadie Mann. A block from Dunlap gave the visitors its first lead of the set, but it was short lived.
A service error, an attacking error and a kill from senior Kadie O’Dell gave the lead back to West at 20-18.
The set one roller-coaster ride was far from over.
A pair of aces from Ava Pitzer and an attacking error by the Cavs flipped the lead yet again.
Having missed on the previous attempt, O’Dell answered the call for West with a kill before a block and a kill from Treadway turned the tide for good.
A block from Abigail Thomas gave West a 24-21 lead which turned into a 25-22 victory.
Robertson was pleased with how his team handled the wild ride of the opening set.
“We have had some trouble with that already and it is one of the things that we have been working on. We want to lift our teammates up and not pull our teammates down if something bad happens,” Robertson said.’They did a really good job today and we didn’t hit that really bad low.”
West took the early advantage in set two before a 5-0 run by the Mavericks gave them a 8-5 lead.
Seven ties and five lead changes later, the crucial second set was tied at 17-17 before West made the decisive move that lead to the win.
A pair of aces from Dean and two errors from James Monroe gave the Cavs a 21-17 lead. The Mavs moved back within two points at 22-20 only to see a kill from O’Dell and a deep corner winner from Treadway spread the lead back to four points.
Treadway’s tip sealed the match and the conference championship for West.
“They are still my two big guns,” Robertson said about Treadway and O’Dell. “They are also really good at blocking. We have a few more weapons this year that we have been working on. Here in the last week I have spent over half of our practice just on varsity hitters.”
One of the keys to the win for Greenbrier West was quality serving, especially from Dean and senior Kenzie Wingrove.
“Paige served really well. She really serves good and she has that float-jump serve that is really nice,” Robertson said. “Kenzi has been working hard on her serve. That is why I get her in the line-up to serve there. She has scored a lot of points for us this year. It has really paid off having her in there.”
Bradley agreed that her team was hurt by the serving from West, but she was also proud of her team’s effort.
“They served well and our serve receive was a little flat. I don’t know if we were thinking about what to do. We just need to play our game and not worry about making mistakes. That is when mistakes happen,” Bradley said. “We played hard today and we didn’t quit. West knew they were in a battle. That is what you need for the second part of the season and to get ready for (the postseason).”
The two regional rivals will meet once again in the regular season on Oct. 17, also in Charmco.
at Greenbrier West High School
James Monroe d. Midland Trail 2-0 (25-8, 25-7).
James Monroe d. Meadow Bridge 2-0 (25-7, 25-5)
Meadow Bridge d. Midland Trail 2-0 (25-18, 26-24)
Greenbrier West d. Richwood 2-0 (25-6, 25-9)
Greenbrier West d. Summers County 2-0 (25-10, 25-9)
Summers County d. Richwood 2-0 (25-10, 25-17)
Quarterfinal
Meadow Bride d. Richwood 2-0 (25-13, 25-9)
Summers County d. Midland Trail 2-0 (25-10, 25-21)
Greenbrier West d. Meadow Bridge 2-0 (25-14, 25-13)
James Monroe d. Summers County 2-0 (25-15, 25-16)