Gallery by Tina Laney
Charleston – Shady Spring and Herbert Hoover had proven themselves to be two of the top three teams all season in Class AAA volleyball across the Mountain State.
With No. 1 Bridgeport already locked into the state title match, the Huskies and the Tigers squared off Wednesday night for the right to meet the Indians.
As expected, the semifinal match required five sets to decide a winner and will easily go down as a state tournament classic.
After winning the first two sets and watching Shady Spring rally to win the next two, Herbert Hoover captured the decisive final set, 15-12 to advance to the state championship match for the first time since 2013.
The title tilt is set for Thursday afternoon following the Class AA match which starts at 10:30 a.m.
“I told them this was going to be a grind,” Herbert Hoover head coach Anita King said. “We had to be willing to step in the gap and grind it out. There were times that we stopped and we didn’t. Every single point, we had to battle. I am super proud of them.”
Following the first two sets it appeared it would be an easy night for Hoover.
In the opening set after 10 ties and six lead changes, the Huskies broke open a 14-14 ties with an 11-3 run to grab the early lead.
The match situation went from bad to worse for the Tigers. Tied at 10-apiece in set two, Herbert Hoover once again exploded on a decisive 9-1 run which led to a 25-15 win.
“We were playing not to lose in the first two sets and then we woke up there in the third set,” Shady Spring head coach Brantlea Wood said.
The Shady Spring wake-up call came with its season in limbo, down 24-21.
Back-to-back kills from Alivia Stover and Allie Fragile were followed by an attacking error from Hoover to tie the set at 24-apiece. A blast from Rachel Mann was answered by a tip from Brianna Adkins that found a hole in the middle of the floor.
Shady kept battling and Rachel Mann responded with another kill before sister Reagan Mann’s timely tip sealed a wild 27-25 comeback win.
Set four was another back and forth slugfest with both teams battling toe-to-toe at the net.
Trailing 22-21, the Tigers tied the set on a kill from Stover. An attacking error from Hoover was followed by a kill from Baylee Richmond on a Husky over pass before Stover’s kill sealed the match in a 25-23 win.
“(Shady Spring) made adjustments and we didn’t. The second thing was we stopped talking. We got flat,” King said about the turnaround. “In the fourth set alone, I counted five balls where we had our own miscues. We lost by two (points) and we gave them five freebies. Just communication miscues.”
The season for both teams boiled down to a race to 15 points in the final set.
“I told them we are playing for all of the marbles in the jar,” King said. “How bad do we want it? I felt good when we got our to that 5-0 start, but you can’t lay down on a team like (Shady Spring).”
After trailing 5-0 early and 8-3 later in the set, Shady Spring rallied to tie the set at 11-11 keyed by two kills from Rachel Mann.
The decisive blows for the Huskies, however, came from sophomore Jessi Crook.
A push deep into the back right corner by Crook gave Hoover the lead for good. Crook backed the go-ahead point up with a kill and a block for a 14-11 advantage.
“She was here a year ago sitting right there (on the bench),” King said about Crook. “I told her and the libero (Braelyn Adkins) that I was so proud of the two of them. They stepped up and played hard. We have worked super hard on our blocking and I thought we did a better job there. I thought that was key.”
Rachel Mann gave Shady its last gasp before freshman Lauren Pleska put the ball down for the game winner.
“It kind was the story of the day. We didn’t give up. Even in the earlier match, they fought off set-points to win the match. If we would have just had a little bit more left in the tank, we might have taken that last set,” Wood said. “I told them in the locker room that I could not be more proud of the fight and the heart that they showed. It could have gone either way at any point in time. We just came up a little short.”
Shady Spring and Herbert Hoover advanced to the semifinal clash with quarterfinal wins over Weir and Wayne, respectively, earlier in the day.
The Tigers swept the Red Riders in three sets, while the Huskies needed four sets to take out the Pioneers.
Shady Spring rolled in set one against Weir. Leading 17-12, the Tigers scored six straight to en route to a 25-13 win.
Weir found itself in set two, but watched Shady Spring walk away midway through the set. Tied 14-14, the Tigers slammed the door with a 10-1 leading to a 25-17 win.
The final set appeared to be going in favor of the Red Riders, but they could not put Shady Spring to bed.
Trailing 24-20, the Tigers ran off six straight points to secure the match, 3-0. The burst was highlighted by kills from Rachel Mann, Reagan Mann and Baylee Richmond. A tip from Reagan Mann sealed the win.
Herbert Hoover took out rival Wayne 25-13 before the Pioneers responded with a 25-18 win in set two. Undaunted, the Huskies took the next two sets 25-20 and 25-21.
