Wirt County Volleyball Team.
PARKERSBURG — The Class A state volleyball tournament will determine a new champion early Tuesday afternoon inside West Virginia State University’s Walker Convocation Center.
East Hardy, led by unrelated All-State Players of the Year Morganne and Chloe Miller, earned the No. 1 seed.
The Cougars, led by head coach Marcia Hahn, enter the season opener as the winning team, opening the quarterfinals at 8:30 a.m. Monday between No. 4 Pendleton County and No. 5 Magnolia, followed by the opening game against No. 8 St. Mary’s. Compete against.
The quarterfinals resume Monday at 1:30 p.m. with No. 7 Riverview taking on No. 2 Greenbrier West, followed by No. 6 Sherman taking on No. 3 Wirt, led by Little Kanawha Conference Player of the Year Addy. Aiming to beat County. Stevens.
“I’m really happy to have the opportunity to play in the tournament.” Wirt County head coach Katie Frazier acknowledged. “We are a young team, and we sometimes have four girls on the floor at any given time who had zero high school experience before this year.
Magnolia volleyball team.
“This team has done a great job of coming together throughout the season regardless of external factors. The team has really grown to be as ready as possible heading into Monday.”
St. Mary’s fourth-year head coach Stephanie Corruthers and the Blue Devils reached state for the first time in their history.
It takes a novel to get through the ups and downs of the Pleasants County project’s journey to Charleston, only to discover that its final destination is West Virginia.
“I need a Trinity team. That’s the team I should get on the bus with.” The Blue Devils are continuing to practice, but had Thanksgiving off, Coach Colathers acknowledged.
“This is the first time we’ve had to go. It’s still surreal at this point just because we’ve been on a roller coaster.”
St. Mary’s Volleyball Team.
Of all the sports, volleyball is one where team psychology comes into play.
“I’m not going to underestimate them. I’m definitely not going to underestimate them.” Coach Causers admitted. “We watch film and study, but it’s a lot different than actually watching them play in person. They’re excited about the experience. It still feels surreal. What I don’t know what to expect, but probably the last two weeks of our season, we played really well against Magnolia and they’re a good team.
“We’re excited. Even with the girls who played Trinity, don’t underestimate St. Mary’s. And the other thing is, it took four years to build this program. We’ve never been on the radar. We’ve had a lot of people tell us this is all about basketball and football, but here we are. I think it surprised me.”
The Blue Devils, led by senior first-team all-state selection Carey Powell, could face Magnolia in the semifinals.
Pam Chapman celebrated her 40th year in New Martinsville this fall, and is currently in her second stint as the Blue Eagles’ first-year head coach.
“I decided to come back and called Roger Clegg, who is now my assistant, and he said sure. It’s great to be able to become Mr Chapman said: His Blue Eagles are led by senior second-team all-state honoree Sienna McKeever.
The MHS head coach said the team: “I worked really, really hard all season.” At first, he wasn’t sure if he would make the state tournament team. “I told Coach Clegg that I thought I had a chance, probably later in the season.”
Coach Chapman knows what can happen in the state volleyball tournament.
“We knew there was potential, but we had some young kids and we didn’t know how those young kids were going to be able to grab it.” Chapman said.
“The only thing that’s going to be the speed of the game from middle school. They’ve done a really great job of working hard, honing all their skills and constantly getting better.”
Magnolia and Pendleton counties meet for the first time.
“There’s a film on it.” Chapman added. “We’re trying to consider and devise plans. The best-laid plans don’t always work out because their momentum can fluctuate in seconds and get away from them quickly.” I’ll try my best and see what happens.”
Coach Chapman also said it felt like she hadn’t played for a month, but she actually defeated Madonna in the regional finals on Nov. 5.
“I’ll go on Sunday.” Coach Coathers added that since the state tournament is not in Charleston and the Yellow Jackets are asking for player headshots on the jumbotron, he would like to know what the state tournament looks like and the atmosphere will be like. “That’s pretty cool to me. It just makes it look brighter when you play in that facility. They make announcements and they put something on the big screen.
“We’re waiting until after Thanksgiving, so the pep buses will be out, but I would say the important thing is to keep the mental game as good as the physical game. Our entire team. The average height is 5-4, 5-5, so when you have nothing. I have one girl who is 5 to 7 years old, and that’s it. We measure the ball against everyone. Your skills need to be there because there aren’t.”
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com.
