Gallery by Tina Laney
Greenbrier East head volleyball coach Matt Sauvage will not make a big to-do out of sweeping a regular season quad match.
However, when the wins include Beckley, Shady Spring and Herbert Hoover, you can’t blame the veteran coach for being a little excited.
“I am proud of the girls. The best thing is there are still things that we need to fix,” Sauvage said. “That is part of it, but we are starting to get to the point where we need to be at the right time of the season. That is what you are looking for.”
The night opened with sectional final rematches from the last few years.
Shady Spring was playing Herbert Hoover, while East was battling its longtime rival Beckley.
As expected, the battle between the Spartans and the Flying Eagles was a tight one. Greenbrier East won the first set 27-25 before taking the second set 25-20.
“The fun part is we are rivals, but (Beckley head coach) Bre (Rhodes) and I are good friends. They have some phenomenal talent on that team. Anytime we get together, it’s a battle and we both want to win,” Sauvage said. “We lost to them 2-1 on our home court earlier in the year, then we come out tonight on a neutral court and get them. It is a good feeling for the girls.”
The match between the Tigers and the Huskies went the full three sets to decide a winner.
Set one was tied 9-9 before Shady went on a 9-1 run that was highlighted by five kills in a row at one point. The home team led by as many as nine points before taking a 25-17 win.
Set two appeared to going to the Tigers as well leading 24-21 before a bevy of attacking errors led to a Huskies comeback and a 27-25 win.
Now in its fourth year in Class AA Region 3, Section 1, it was the first set Hoover had taken from Shady during that stretch.
The Tigers fell behind in set three, 11-8, before running off six straight points to take control of the set.
The lead was never bigger than five points and twice Herbert Hoover rallied to within one point before falling to the Tigers 25-21.
Although the Huskies did not win the match, taking a set from the Tigers was significant with the postseason looming.
“I felt like we had a chance when we played them a couple of weeks ago,” Herbert Hoover head coach Anita King said. “The kids have to believe it. That is the significance of taking a set. Once you take a set, the kids start to believe.”
Riding the momentum from the win over Beckley, Greenbrier East jumped on Shady Spring quick in the second match taking a 10-3 lead.
The Tigers pulled within three points on two occasions, but the Spartans’ power at the net and big-time hitting was too much for the Tigers in a 25-18 loss.
Set two was tight most of the way, but just like the first set, the Spartans overpowered the home team in another 25-18 win.
The ladies from Fairlea closed out the night with a 25-21 win over Hoover in set one, before dominating the final set 25-11.
“Our biggest thing has been we have been struggling with communication. It is not necessarily skill for us. We have a good bit of skill,” Sauvage said. “It is about playing together and not worrying about who gets the hit. It is about us playing scrappy and just playing volleyball. This is probably the first time that they have been able to do that. It was a fun night for us.”
Beckley bounced back against Herbert Hoover in its second match winning both sets 25-20 and 27-25. However, the Beckley coach still had some components that needed some improvement in her eyes.
“We still need to have more consistent passes and hits,” Rhodes said. “We have to be quicker on the block. We have a good block when we can get there. There are just some things we can tweak to make us a little better.”
The Flying Eagles closed out the night against the host team who has been a thorn in their side.
Tuesday night, the match belonged to Beckley.
After trailing early in the first set, the Flying Eagles turned a 7-4 deficit into a nine-point bulge late and a 25-16 win.
Set two was all Beckley, taking down the Tigers 25-12.
“It is always nice to win. It doesn’t help what happened earlier, but it does help to end the night on a better note for sure,” Rhodes said. “It was nice to win in two against Shady and not give up a set. That helps a lot.”
Battling through a tough night, the Tigers did not look like themselves from the opening match Tuesday.
“Everybody has off days. We had an off night,” Shady Spring head coach Brantlea Wood said. “We will come back in tomorrow, make adjustments and get ready for the next game.”
Greenbrier East also had an individual school record set Tuesday night. Senior libero Dia Sauvage recorded 16 serve receives in the win over Beckley to set the career mark for the Spartans. Sauvage is now the all-time leader in digs and serve receives at Greenbrier East.
