Different year. Different classification. Same result.
Moving up one classification from its dominant period in AA, No. 3-ranked Shady Spring held on to its postseason winning ways with a wild 3-2 thriller over No. 4 ranked Greenbrier East inside Dave Wills Gym.
The win secured the seventh straight sectional title for the Tigers.
Shady Spring and Greenbrier East both advance to the Region 3 tournament. The Tigers will host Ripley, while the Spartans will travel to No. 2 ranked Herbert Hoover. Both matches are scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m.
“They showed a lot of grit and they showed a lot of heart. To jump out of the gate and win two, then go down two, it was an emotional roller-coaster,” Shady Spring head coach Brantlea Wood said. “I think we got a little antsy. We may have thought we had it in the bag, but we got a little bit of a reality check and had to come back. We did our job, came back and handled our business.”
Even though the home standing Tigers grabbed the first two sets, the road to those wins was far from easy.
Both teams battled through eight ties and six lead changes to stand even at 17-17 in the opener after the fifth kill of the set from Greenbrier East senior Alexis Stack.
At the most crucial time in the opening set, junior Brooklyn Humphries and sophomore Baylee Richmond came up big for the home team.
A kill from Humphries started the spurt and was followed by an ace from Richmond. A pair of attacking errors from the Spartans and a huge block from Humphries capped a 5-0 run that turned into a 25-20 win.
Set two was more of the same with both teams hammering each other like a heavyweight slugfest. Nine ties and five lead changes highlighted the first 12 points before Shady Spring started to pull away.
Three attacking errors by East allowed the Tigers to take a 15-12 edge before a 6-0 run separated the match. Humphries was in the middle of the action once again with a kill and a block to keep Shady Spring rolling.
Greenbrier East could only get within four points down the stretch in a 25-19 win for the Tigers.
“Brooklyn and Baylee both played really well tonight,” Wood said. “They are two of our keys. If we can get them going, then we can get everybody going with them. Brooklyn’s blocking was huge for us.”
As expected, the battle-tested Spartans refused to lay down and came back with a vengeance over the next two sets.
“In the first and second set, we were struggling getting into system,” Greenbrier East head coach Matt Sauvage said. “Our passes were 10-12 feet off and behind the setter. We weren’t able to run an in-system middle ball. They were moving the double over to the outside, but we didn’t have a choice there.”
“In the third set, our passes started to become more tight to the net and we could get in-system,” Sauvage went on to say. “We were able to run the middles and then it created the singles on the outside. Then we could run our offense. The fourth set that was huge.”
Greenbrier East roared out of the gate with four straight points and quickly pushed the lead to 11-4.
Junior Regan Rink and freshman Paige Totten became a force for the Spartans who knocked Shady back on its heels. During the early spurt, Rink had three kills, two aces and four service points.
Even though they looked out of sync in the early going, the Tigers fought back to take an 18-17 lead with blocks from Reagan Mann and Alivia Stover.
The momentum was short-lived, however, because the Spartans re-grouped to run off six points for a 23-18 lead.
Shady was far from done.
Kills from Stover and Rachel Mann, along with two errors from East moved the home team back within one point late in the set.
A kill from Stack and a blast from Totten on a Shady Spring over-pass sealed set three for the visitors.
The Spartans started fast once again in set four, but this time they never allowed the Tigers to get back in the set for the most part.
Once again running out to an 11-4 lead, Greenbrier East led by as many as nine in a 25-18 triumph which was sealed with kills from Rink and senior Mollie Smith.
Shady Spring entered the match Thursday in the driver’s seat having beat the Spartans 3-1 in the first showdown Tuesday. East needed two victories for the sectional title, while Shady needed just one.
The opening match came down to a race to 15 points in the fifth and deciding set.
The Tigers shook off the slow starts of the previous two sets and took a quick 4-1 lead, but could not hold the advantage. Back-to-back kills from Stack and another winner Totten keyed a 3-0 stretch that gave the Spartans a 6-5 lead.
A kill from Rachel Mann and a flush from Humphries on a an over-pass was answered by another Stack attack to even the set at 7-7.
Shady then made the decisive move of the match by scoring five straight points.
A service error and two attacking errors from the visitors was followed by a tip from Reagan Mann and a blast from Stover for the 12-7 lead.
“They just went on that little run there and in a 15-point set, you just can’t let that happen,” Sauvage said. “We still battled and played hard, but that swing was a big part of it.”
An attacking error ended the run, but Shady secured the sectional title with a kill and a block from Regan Mann, along with an ace from older sister Rachel for the final point.
“Tonight was an absolute dogfight. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Wood said. “Even the match Tuesday was a dogfight. A couple of calls going a different way could have changed the outcome of that match. The net play was a big part of the match tonight. Being aggressive is something that we have worked on and talked about. I think that kind of prevailed.”
The lone senior on the team for Shady is Rachel Mann, who has been through the postseason battles. Mann pointed to the brutal schedule played by the Tigers as the key to bouncing back in the final set.
“I think it is really good to have challenges on the way to states. I think it is preparing us for once we get up to the top. People will look at us like we have lost a lot of games, but we have like double the strength of schedule that most teams play,” Mann explained. “I think when it comes down to tournament play, that toughness really sets us apart. Where we have taken some losses, I feel like we are good at keeping our composure and being ready to fight through the adversity.”
The final Saturday of the regular season for the Tigers included battles with Class AAAA Morgantown and Musselman, along with defending double-A state champion Oak Glen.
“Our strength of schedule really helps us at the end of the season. That is why we play the schedule that we do. We condition all year for situations like this. Our schedule helps simulate these type of battles,” Wood said. “I think we showed tonight that we have hitters everywhere on the floor. They definitely came to play because it took everybody. We used everybody on the floor tonight.”
Starting with regional play next week, it is one and done the rest of the way. The winner heads to the state tournament, while the loser heads home for the season.
“We played (Herbert Hoover) here at Shady Spring and lost that night 2-1. We didn’t play very well that night, but we are looking forward to that matchup,” Sauvage said. “Hoover is a great team, but I like the way we are playing right now. I think we are peaking at the right time. I love the way my girls battled tonight.”
Rachel Mann admitted knowing very little about Ripley, but made it clear that Shady will come ready to play Thursday.
“We are not taking them lightly because anything can happen, just like today.” Mann said.
