The last time that George Washington missed the state volleyball tournament inside the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center was 2013.
Over the current nine-year run, the Patriots have won two state championships and finished runner-up two more times.
Only time will tell if G-Dub will make it 10 consecutive trips to the big dance, but one month into the season the ladies from Kanawha County look primed to do just that.
Saturday afternoon at Volley in the Valley at Greenbrier East High School, George Washington was the last team standing among a talented 16-team field.
Playing 13 matches on the day, the Patriots topped Bridgeport 2-1 (25-21, 22-25, 15-7) in the championship match.
“Nothing we do is ever easy. Everything was do is the hard way for sure,” George Washington head coach Missy Smith said, smiling. “It was a long day with so many good teams here. To come out on top of it, I am proud of them.”
Among the teams on hand were seven that made the state tournament last year which included Beckley, GW, Bridgeport, Parkersburg, Shady Spring, Greenbrier West and Pendleton County.
The Patriots only dropped one set during pool play, a split with the Indians, but entered the eight-team single elimination playoff as the No. 5 seed in the Gold Bracket.
The quarterfinal matchup for GW was Region 3 rival Beckley.
In set one, the Patriots fell behind late, 18-15, when Smith had seen enough. The team that came to the bench for the timeout, was not the team that returned to the floor. GW outscored the Flying Eagles, who were plagued with some communication issues, 10-1 to win the opening set. The Patriots secured the match with a 25-21 win in the second set.
“We are starting to gel a little bit. We have had some line-up changes and we have had some kids dinged up a little bit,” Smith said. “It is always next girl up for us and the girls respond to that when they go in the game. I greatly appreciate that and it is a testament to how hard they work every single day. They are prepared to go in when their name is called.”
George Washington defeated another Region 3 foe, Greenbrier East, 2-0 (25-22, 25-18) in the semifinal round to advance to the championship match against Bridgeport.
Junior middle-hitter Reva Sangrampurkar and senior setter Tylie Barton were big for the Patriots all day, but Smith lauded her group for a solid team win Saturday.
“(Reva) carries us a lot of the time. When we don’t have a lot going we can go to her and she will get the point,” Smith said. “It was really a great team effort today. At times we did not look good as a team, but when we put it together as a team, we looked pretty good. Today was a team win.”
Bridgeport defeated Parkersburg 2-0 in the quarterfinals before rallying to defeat Shady Spring 2-1 in the semis. The Indians dropped the the opening set to the Tigers 12-25, before winning the next two, 25-20 and 15-13.
Shady Spring advanced to the semis with a 2-0 (25-6, 25-16) win over South Charleston, while Greenbrier East defeated Hampshire 2-0 (25-16, 25-20).
Greenbrier East senior standout Dia Sauvage crossed an incredible milestone Saturday afternoon when she recorded the 2,000th dig of her career.
“I honestly never thought I would get that many. Our block is huge this year and it has been every year. We have always been big,” Sauvage said. “I am just shocked. I never thought it would be like this. Without the front row doing what they do, I wouldn’t be able to do what I have been doing. So, it’s all about the front row.”
Pendleton County defeated River View to win the Silver Bracket, while Greenbrier West defeated Wyoming East to win the Bronze Bracket.
Pool A
Greenbrier East d. Nicholas County 25-1, 25-7
Greenbrier East d. South Charleston 25-12, 25-11
Greenbrier East d. River View 25-12, 25-13
South Charleston d. Nicholas County 25-18, 25-15
South Charleston d. River View 25-10, 25-21
River View d. Nicholas County 25-13, 25-20
Pool B
George Washington vs. Bridgeport 15-25, 25-20
George Washington d. Independence 25-18, 25-21
George Washington d. Wyoming East 25-13, 25-17
Bridgeport d. Independence 25-10, 25-22
Bridgeport d. Wyoming East 25-11, 25-11
Independence d. Wyoming East 25-23, 26-24
Pool C
Beckley d. PikeView 25-10, 25-15
Beckley d. Pendleton County 25-10, 25-21
Beckley vs. Parkersburg 25-22, 23-25
Parkersburg d. PikeView 25-15, 25-10
Parkersburg vs. Pendleton County 17-25, 25-14
Pendleton County vs. PikeView 25-7, 22-25
Pool D
Shady Spring d. Greenbrier West 25-22, 25-17
Shady Spring d. Princeton 25-20, 25-12
Shady Spring d. Hampshire 25-19, 25-15
Hampshire d. Greenbrier West 25-15, 25-19
Hampshire vs. Princeton 25-27, 25-20
Princeton vs. Greenbrier West 25-22, 23-25
Gold Bracket
Quarterfinals
Greenbrier East d. Hampshire 25-16, 25-20
Shady Spring d. South Charleston 25-6, 25-16
Bridgeport d. Parkersburg 2-0
George Washington d. Beckley 25-19, 25-21
Semifinals
George Washington d. Greenbrier East 25-22, 25-18
Bridgeport d. Shady Spring 12-25, 25-20, 15-13
Championship
George Washington d. Bridgeport 25-21, 22-25, 15-7
Silver Bracket
Semifinals
River View d. Independence
Pendleton County d. Princeton
Championship
Pendleton County d. River View
Bronze Bracket
Semifinals
Greenbrier West d. Nicholas County
Wyoming East d. Pikeview
Championship
Greenbrier West d. Wyoming East
