KINGWOOD — On one hand, there really wasn’t all that much at stake Wednesday night when Morgantown and University faced off at Preston High for the Region I, Section II volleyball title.
Granted, both had handily dispatched of their semifinal foes 30 minutes earlier (UHS beat Buckhannon-Upshur 25-15, 25-20, and 25-16, while MHS took out host Preston 25-10, 25-4, 25-15). Both teams were guaranteed a spot in the regional tournament to be held Saturday at Brooke.
But judging from the rowdiness of the crowd, the intensity of the match and the effort of the players, the fourth time the two rivals met this season meant just as much as every Hawks-Mohigans tilt has ever meant.
In other words, everything.
And in a thriller that stretched past the limit, it was University that finally prevailed, capturing the sectional crown and the No. 1 seed with a 3-2 victory.
MHS dominated set 1 with superior hitting, digging and blocking, compared to the tight, nervous Hawks, but UHS responded with a quick start in set 2. The Hawks’ 7-3 early lead was eventually whittled away by the resilient Mohigans, however, and MHS took a brief 11-10 lead. But UHS started to set and hit much better, as it won the majority of the battle points down the stretch to tie the match 25-19.
The critical third set was quite a bit tighter, as neither team could forge a 2-point lead until the Hawks swung the momentum their way with a seven-point streak to jump in front and seemingly in control at 16-10. However, a bevy of bad service errors and missed hits combined with improved Mohigans efficiency carried Morgantown to a 25-12 win.
Another hot start for the Hawks at 7-2 landed MHS in a hole it tried but failed to extricate itself from, as UHS knotted the match at two sets apiece with an easy 25-16 win.
So the match, the Sectional crown — and most importantly, bragging rites — came down to a close, hard-fought and intense final set. UHS started with a 2-0 lead, only to have MHS respond to tie at 2-2. The Hawks then strung together a big 4-point lead at 8-4, but a strategic timeout from MHS coach Nick Lusk reversed the tide, and the Mohigans roared back to make it 8-8, forcing UHS coach Don Godfrey into a timeout of his own.
Five tie scores later, it was 14-14. A big swing from Hawks left side hitter Ashten Boggs (who led all with 18 kills) on a set from Lauren Huggins (her 28th assist) gave the Hawks the 15-14 lead, and when MHS couldn’t convert the UHS serve, it was a University celebratory scrum.
“We just got off to too many slow starts,” Lusk said. “You just can’t do that against good teams and expect to come back consistently. But this was a very tough battle, and I loved how we kept coming back and fighting, but you have to give them credit, because they made the plays and won the points they had to to win.
“We’re disappointed, but we feel pretty good going into regionals. We’ll get back to work at practice and be ready for the weekend.”
Elated with the win, Godfrey knew he didn’t have an issue with motivating his team before the final.
“Any time it’s MHS-UHS, it always a big game, and both teams really wanted this one,” he said. “I thought our big fourth set gave us a lot of momentum heading into that last set, and I’m proud of the girls for staying confident and strong and positive.
“We feel good about getting that No. 1 seed, too. We hope to keep improving as we have all year, and hopefully play our best volleyball this weekend. We’re certainly excited about our chances.”
