Gallery by Karen Akers
Entering sectional play last year, Shady Spring was sluggish after a grinding trip to Musselman the previous Saturday.
That was not the case this year.
Following a regular season ending showdown Saturday with Martinsburg, Morgantown and Musselman in the Eastern Panhandle, the Tigers came out firing Tuesday night to open Class AA Region 3, Section 1 play at home.
Recording 43 kills over three sets, Shady Spring blitzed Independence in the best-of-five match, 3-0.
“Our grind this year came in the middle of the season and we had some lulls in our play. I think in that Morgantown win Saturday, which was such a tough game, we saw some great play and some great team work. The girls really seem to be meshing right now and having a good time playing together. We have been working more on teamwork and communication. We are trying to stress that and I think that is helping out a lot.”
Leading 4-3 in the first set against the Patriots, Shady Spring hit another gear to outscore the visitors, 12-1 and take control of the set.
Five kills from Chloe Thompson led a 12 kill barrage by the Tigers in the 25-8 win which also included five aces, three from sophomore Rachel Mann.
The Tigers exploded on a 9-2 run in the second set and led 21-11 before winning 25-13.
The teamwork and communication was on full display for the Tigers with seven different players recording kills and four players recording aces in set two.
“I told (setters) Reagan (Mann) and Haley (Sweeney) to share the ball and go to all different places. We have to use that in the postseason,” Williams said.
Independence had no answers for the firepower being handed out by Shady Spring Tuesday and the Tigers cruised in set three to secure the match.
Holding a 12-4 advantage, Shady Spring ran off nine straight points capped by a kill from Thompson. In the sequence prior to the kill, Thompson also recorded her 1,000th dig of her career, joining senior running mate Meg Williams with 1,000 kills and 1,000 digs for their career.
Shady Spring senior standout Chloe Thompson with her 1,000th career dig and drops the kill to boot.
Thompson joins senior running mate Meg Williams with 1,000 career kills and digs…. #wvprepvb pic.twitter.com/ekz5L57cA1— Rusty Udy (@rusman1981) November 2, 2022
“This feels really great. I have worked really hard for this, but I am not going to take all of the credit. I owe a lot to my teammates and coaches. Even teammates from my freshman year when I played varsity. The 1,000 (milestones) came from playing with all of them.”
Easily known for her titanic blasts on the outside, Thompson worked tirelessly to be more than just a hitter.
“When I first started playing volleyball, I knew I wanted to play at the next level. I worked to make sure I could play all the way around, so if that was what it took for me to play in college, I would be happy to play in the back row.”
Williams recorded five kills in the final set and had 14 for the match. Thompson also recorded five kills in set three, giving her 13 for the night. Rachel Mann continued her strong serving with four more aces.
“Reagan came in this year as a setter and she has some really great hands and is also a great hitter. She also helps us on the block,” coach Williams said. “Rachel is good defensively and you can’t beat her serve. Reagan also has a great serve. Everyone has something to give and when everyone is firing 100 percent, we look really good.”
Herbert Hoover entered the tournament as the No. 2 seed and had a tussle with Liberty in set one before pulling out a tight 25-23 win.
” I had a couple of kids sick before we started and we witnessed a fiery crash on the interstate on our way here tonight. Several players showed up late and weren’t quite warmed up. We had a lot of missed serves and that didn’t help either,” Herbert Hoover Head coach Anita King said. “We were about halfway through the second set before we started running some tempo. Liberty came out swinging and they were serving tough. They were picking up the swings and we weren’t making the adjustments.”
The Huskies found their rhythm in the second set to take a 25-17 decision before securing the match with a decisive 25-8 win in set three.
“They joked in the huddle after the first set and said lets just forget that first set, I said, yes, lets do,” King said, smiling. “The good news is we woke up and we escaped.”
All-stater Sydney Shamblin had 14 kills in the win and served five aces, while sophomore Ashton Henrich, who King has moved into the middle at times, had seven kills and four aces. Senior Abby Hanson who was sick before the match came on to record 14 digs for the Huskies.
“Ashton is really an outside (hitter), but she is stepping up for us in the middle. We needed another middle and I told her I needed her to be that,” King said. “Of her three rotations in the front row, I need her in the middle twice and I let her play outside once. She did a good job of that.”
Prior to the Shady Spring match, Independence knocked off Nicholas County 3-0.
“That was the best we have played in weeks. Everybody stepped up tonight. When we messed up, it was fine because we washed it and went on,” Independence head coach Kevin Bragg said.
Sophomore Aubree Cantrell was the spark that fired the Indy machine in the opening match recording 16 kills over the three sets.
“Front row or back row, I don’t care where she is at. If you can get her the ball, she can make something happen,” Bragg said about his sophomore standout.
Cantrell dropped four kills in the first seven points of the opening set to lead Indy past the Grizzlies 25-15. The second set appeared to be more of the same with the Patriots taking an 11-7 lead before Nicholas roared back.
A 7-1 run gave the Grizzlies its first lead of the night, but Nicholas could not hold the lead and dropped the second set 25-22.
Indy appeared on its way to an easy win in the final set jumping out to a 17-10 advantage before the Grizzlies rallied behind the play of Alexis O’Dell and Mason Stone who combined for nine kills.
Nicholas County tied the match at 20-20 before a huge block from Kamryn Wooten snapped the run for Indy. After ties at 22 and 23 apiece, a blast from Cantrell and kill from Jaina Davis secured a 25-23 win for the Patriots.
Nicholas County beat Liberty in five sets to eliminate the Raiders and advance to Wednesday’s action. The Grizzlies will again play Independence at 5:30 p.m., but this time the loser will be done for the season.
Shady Spring and Herbert Hoover will also play at 5:30 p.m. in the winner’s bracket. The winner will secure a spot in the sectional championship match, while the loser will play again in an elimination match against the survivor of Indy and Nicholas.
