Woodrow Wilson volleyball has dominated Class AAA Region 3, Section 2 play during seventh-year head coach Bre Rhodes’ tenure.
Regional play however, has been nothing short of frustrating.
That frustration dissolved into thin air Saturday afternoon against regional nemesis George Washington.
Rallying from two sets down in the best-of-five match, the Flying Eagles stunned the Patriots with a thrilling 3-2 win to bring the Region 3 championship plaque back to Beckley.
“This is huge. It’s a big win and it’s what we put in all that work for this season,” Rhodes said.
By beating Capital in its earlier regional semifinal, Woodrow Wilson had already secured a spot in the state volleyball tournament.
While happy her team had secured a berth at states, Rhodes was not content for her team to stop there.
“Our goal is to not go into the state tournament losing, so we are going to go win this next one,” Rhodes said after the Capital win.
Early on it seemed the regional woes would continue for Woodrow Wilson when George Washington jumped out to a commanding lead in the first set.
Trailing by as many as 13 points, the Flying Eagles dropped the opening set, 25-19. Although set two was tight early, the Patriots closed the match on an 8-3 run for a 25-18 win and a 2-0 advantage.
“I think where we played a little rough against Capital, we carried that over to this match. Once we were down 2-0, they wanted it and they dug deep and won the next three. That is hard to do,” Rhodes said.
The third set was back-and-forth the entire way with Woodrow pulling a head and the Patriots answering back. After trailing the entire set, GW took its first lead at 21-20 and held a 22-21 lead with the match in the balance.
Woodrow’s go-to stopper, Elysia Salon, gave the Patriots a quick sign of what it was going to be like the rest of the way.
A blast by Salon tied the set and was followed by an unforced error. A kill from junior standout, ZaMahya Moss put the Flying Eagles one point away from a much needed win.
A kill from GW stemmed the Woodrow tide only for a moment as Salon blasted the set winner on the next ball.
“It is crucial that we have somebody like her that we can count on,” Rhodes said. “But, everybody put in the work and did what they needed today.”
A pair of blocks from Olivia Ziolkowski and one from Saira Diehl set the tone early for set four. Leading 10-9, Woodrow outscored the home team 12-1 and and went on to a 25-15 win.
Playing the final set to 15 and with the building at a fever pitch, two kills by Salon and an unassisted kill from Ziolkowski help build a 4-0 lead for Woodrow.
Trading blasts back-and-forth, the Flying Eagles held that early four-point lead at 10-6 before GW came back to take a 12-11 advantage.
However, while Woodrow stayed steady under the pressure of the lengthy rallies, the Patriots wilted with four unforced errors in a 15-13 loss at the hands of the Flying Eagles.
Woodrow Wilson took a 3-0 win over Capital to advance the the regional championship, but the Cougars gave the Flying Eagles all it wanted in the process.
After a struggle early, Woodrow beat Capital 25-19 in set one, but the Cougars had Beckley in trouble in set two leading 12-6.
Three key aces from Abby Mower and a block from Moss sparked a 6-0 run. Woodrow later pulled away with a 5-0 run spearheaded by two blocks from Ziolkowski.
“(Abby) mixes it up hitting it short and deep. Having her in the middle there to get that serve really helps. She got a good a stretch of points for us at a key time in the match,” Rhodes said.
The Flying Eagles would take set two 25-21 and secure the match with a 25-15 win in the final set.
“We are prepared for a quicker offense. So, when there are higher sets and higher hits, we get sucked back a little bit,” Rhodes said about the struggles against Capital. “We still picked it up, but it was a different type of hit for our blockers.”
Seeding and times for the state tournament will be announced Sunday. The tournament will be played Friday and Saturday inside the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
