Gallery by Heather Belcher
Wednesday night, Salia Harris put her own spin on the timeless classic, Beauty and the Beast.
After being named homecoming queen just over a month back, the Woodrow Wilson all-state outside hitter went full on “beast-mode” in the Class AAAA Region 3 Volleyball co-final.
Dropping a total of 23 kills on the night, Harris sparked the Flying Eagles to a 3-0 sweep of St. Albans, sending Woodrow Wilson back to the state volleyball tournament for the fifth straight season.
“My mind has only been set on the state tournament since the beginning of the season and I just wanted to keep that streak going,” Harris said. “I knew I was going to get my team there one way or another. With all of us working together, I wanted to be a key leader tonight.”
The Flying Eagles ended the regular season ranked No. 3 in AAAA and was a heavy favorite against the Red Dragons.
If the visitors were just supposed to roll over, nobody informed them and St. Albans came out battling.
After Woodrow Wilson took a 6-2 advantage, the Red Dragons stormed back to tie the match 8-8, before building a 12-9 lead.
A pair of kills from Bethany Farry, along with a block and a kill from Addison Holley sparked the St. Albans burst.
The Flying Eagles rallied to take an 18-16 lead, but back-to-back attacking errors, plus a block and a kill from Farry pushed the Red Dragons back in front late in the match.
With the first set teetering back-and-forth, freshman Mollie Smith put Woodrow back in front with two straight kills before Harris’ eighth winner of the set gave the Flying Eagles a narrow 25-23 win.
“St. Albans is a very good team and they are really scrappy,” all-state setter Abby Dillon said. “They want to win. We couldn’t really read where the ball was going sometimes, which was really good on their part.”
Although St. Albans never went away all night, the next two sets belonged to Woodrow Wilson in solid fashion.
Two kills from Smith and one each from Harris and Reagan Rist opened the second set and the home team never looked back.
The Red Dragons held strong and pulled within three points at 13-10, only to see a 6-0 burst from Woodrow Wilson push the lead out to 18-10.
A block and a kill from Rist, as well as two kills from Harris closed out set two, 25-15.
“I think we came in a little nervous not knowing how they played,” Woodrow Wilson head coach Bre Rhodes said. “We watched some film, but not having a win under our belt with them, I think we were a little apprehensive that first match. Once we got it going, we kept it going.”
After dropping 14 kills over the first two sets combined, Harris was a shark to blood in set three, ripping six kills in the first 12 points for the Flying Eagles.
Harris also demonstrated her prowess at the service line with a pair of aces to build a 15-10 lead.
Holding a 19-14 advantage, Woodrow Wilson sealed the match with a 6-0 burst. Rist and Smith both had a winner, while Dillon served an ace in the winning stretch.
Harris added three kills, including the match winner for a 25-14 win.
While many big hitters choose to power through the block, Harris attacks the net with a different mindset.
“My goal is to not hit through the block, but to hit around the block. When I go up, I see the holes and I try to swing where I can,” Harris said. “I have had several years of experience. I have worked with so many coaches over the years that have helped me with that.”
Rhodes talked about Harris’s court vision as well as the play of some of the young players who stepped up big under the postseason pressure.
“Salia reads the court and really knows what to do. It wasn’t always a big swing, but that is something that we have been working on with everybody,” Rhodes said. “Reagan Rist held her own and everybody played well. They really showed up tonight. They held their own and played like they know how to play.”
Harris also gave credit top her senior teammate who contributed heavily to her big night.
“I consider Abby one of my closest friends and that helps us on the court as well,” Harris said. “I think us just talking every day on the court and outside the court has really helped our connection.”
The AAAA portion of the state volleyball tournament will be played Wednesday, Nov. 13. Times and seeding are still to be determined. The championship match will be played Thursday following the Class A and AA title tilts.
