Lady Raiders end season on winning note
FREDERICKTOWN — It took some extra time, but the Waynesburg Central volleyball squad ended its regular season Tuesday night with a hard-fought 3-2 victory over Beth-Center to extend the Lady Raiders’ winning streak to 13 matches.
After taking the first two sets 25-18 and 27-25, Waynesburg dropped the following two sets, 25-12 and 25-20.
The Lady Raiders (14-2, 11-1) kept their composure and relied on its strong passing in the fifth set, en route to a 15-7 win over the Lady Bulldogs (7-5, 7-4).
“Going into that fifth set, I just told the girls to have confidence in themselves and to have confidence in each other,” Waynesburg coach Dan Higinbotham said. “We kept our composure and just played the game. This is like a playoff game for us. We wanted this win to help us with our playoff seeding.”
Waynesburg, the Section 3-AA champion, will be idle until the playoffs next week, while B-C ends their regular season on Thursday at Brownsville. The Lady Bulldogs clinched a playoff berth last week, as well.
Abby Gibbons directed the offense for the Lady Raiders, dishing out 30 assists. She added eight service points. Kiana Blasco finished 15 kills and eight service points, while Kaitlin Fisher added 10 kills and four blocks.
Kinlee Whited paced B-C with 14 kills, while Kennedy Kuhns chipped in with eight kills. Mackenzie Crile recorded 27 assists, while Frankie Pryor (15 digs) and Bailey Minerd (seven aces) were solid contributors for the Lady Bulldogs.
“I am disappointed in the loss, but tonight was a great night of volleyball by both teams,” Beth-Center coach Steve Beyer said. “We wanted this win and the girls never quit. We fought the whole night and I didn’t have to say too much after being down 2-0. Our chemistry has been great these last couple of weeks with our setters and hitters.”
Waynesburg broke away from a 10-10 tie in the first set and stretched its lead to 20-13 after a kill from Fisher. The Lady Raiders ended the set with five of the final 10 points.
In the second set, the action was back-and-forth as neither team could sustain a lead for long stretches. The visitors claimed the second set after ending on an 8-6 run.
It was all B-C in the third set, as the home team collected the first six points and had leads of 11-2, 17-5 and 20-9 before closing out the set for the 13-point win.
“We treated tonight like a playoff game,” Beyer said. “Tonight was Senior Night and I thought our seniors (London Brown, Morgan Barwin) gave us a spark. It was an intense atmosphere and we didn’t back down. If we played the way we did tonight, we give ourselves a chance to win in the playoffs.”
With the score at 19-19 in the fourth set, the Lady Bulldogs forced a fifth set with a 6-1 spurt. The run was capped off by a kill from Whited and an ace by Minerd.
In the fifth set, Waynesburg went up 3-0 after kills from Blasco and Fisher, and a perfectly-placed ace by Gibbons. The team split the next 11 points, but the Lady Raiders seized the momentum and took care of business for the critical section victory.
“We have been rolling lately,” Higinbotham said. “This is a special group of girls and they are capable of great things. In the winning streak, our passing has been crisp and we have been setting our two big hitters consistently. When we run the middle, we are tough to stop. Our passing will make or break us.”