CHARLESTON – Friday morning at the WVSSAC State Volleyball Tournament, defending Class AA state champion Shady Spring kicked off its quest for back-to-back titles with a convincing 3-0 win over No. 8 seed Frankfort.
“It was a good team win today and everybody got to play. The younger girls were cheering and it was a great atmosphere,” Shady Spring head coach Kelly Williams said. “The crowd we had here was awesome and they were really behind us. It took a lot of the nerves away.”
If the Tigers had any nerves inside, it didn’t show early. A blast from all-stater Chloe Thompson and an ace from Camille Testerman sent Shady on an 8-0 and the Tigers never looked back.
After beating the Falcons 2-0 in the regular season and coming in as the top team in Class AA, the Tigers could have entered the match a little flat.
Unfortunately for Frankfort, that we not the case.
“We talked before the match about how each day is a blessing,” Williams said. “When you get a chance to come to a place like this and play, you need to take advantage of it and really show your stuff.”
Shady Spring won set one, 25-8 before taking set two 25-4. A 25-12 decision completed the sweep sending the Tigers into Friday night’s semifinal round against No. 5 seed Oak Glen.
The Golden Bears and the Tigers last met in the 2019 state championship game won by Oak Glen in five sets.
“We watched them this morning and we watched their film,” Williams said. “If we come out and play like we should, we will be fine. It is not going to be easy and we expect a dogfight.”
The match is set to start at 6:30 p.m. with the winner advancing to Saturday’s championship game.
