Gallery by Heather Belcher
Woodrow Wilson volleyball and Greenbrier East volleyball entered Wednesday’s action with slightly different agendas.
The Flying Eagles needed one win to secure the top-seed from Class AAA Region 3, Section 1 in Saturday’s Region 3 tournament.
The Spartans also had eyes on the top seed, but the main goal was to beat Princeton in the opening match to also punch a ticket to the regional Saturday.
Both teams accomplished their main goals with Woodrow Wilson sweeping East in the sectional championship match.
“It is also important to get that sectional championship win and play the No. 2 seed out of the other section,” Woodrow Wilson head coach Bre Rhodes said.
After a tough four-set match with Princeton, the Spartans started fast against Woodrow, but could not maintain the momentum.
Facing an 8-5 deficit, the Flying Eagles exploded on a a 13-2 run to take control of the opening set.
Woodrow led by as many as 11 points and closed out a 25-16 win.
Riding the momentum into set two, the Flying Eagles opened an early 10-2 lead mainly on the arm of Salia Harris. Harris ended the night with 16 kills.
“That is the best that I have seen Woodrow play all year. They are really playing good at the right time. Good for them,” Greenbrier East head coach Matt Sauvage said.
When Harris wasn’t frustrating the Spartans, Alanna Penn was with 13 kills, along with Saira Diehl and Anya Hasan who had four winners each.
Beckley took set two, 25-13 and won the final set 25-18.
Emily Gallaher had 16 digs for the Flying Eagles. Londen Baker and Abby Dillon had 10 each. Skylar Jeffrey had 13 service points and Penn had 10. Dillon also set the table with 34 assists in the win.
“They took it a little bit farther tonight. We worked on some stuff in practice and hopefully ironed out all of the kinks,” Rhodes said.
Greenbrier East handled the first two sets with the Tigers easily, 25-16 and 25-11.
Princeton found the magic to win the third set 25-23, but that was the last hope for the Tigers.
The final set was tied 11-11 before the Spartans ran off a 9-1 run for a 25-15 win.
“Coming into tonight, that is mindset it has to be, beating Princeton,” Sauvage said. “If you don’t accomplish that goal, the remaining matches don’t mean anything, I thought girls played well against Princeton and took care of what we needed to.
Greenbrier East will now play George Washington Saturday morning at 10 a.m at Woodrow Wilson.
The Flying Eagles will look to beat South Charleston. Both first match winner qualify for the state volleyball tournament.
“(George Washington) is a good team, but we are a good team too,” Sauvage said. “All that matters now is who the No. 1 seed coming out of that section. That is who we are going to focus on. That is the roads to state.”
