After getting her 500th career dig earlier in the season, West Union senior setter Ashlah Staten picked up her 1,000th career assist in a September 13 match at Lynchburg. Staten is pictured here with WUHS volleyball coach Kiersten Rowe. (Photo provided)
By Mark Carpenter
People’s Defender
Coach Kiersten Rowe and her West Union Lady Dragons varsity volleyball squad were in Southern Hills Athletic Conference action on September 19 as they crossed the county border to battle the Ripley Lady Jays. The Lady Dragons came into the Thursday night road match with two victories in three outings and looking to climb back over the ,500 mark for the season.
After a struggling in the first set, the Lady Dragons got it together from that point forward, taking down the host Lady Jays in four tightly contested sets, 19-25, 25-15, 25-23, 25-23. The win improved West Union to 6-5 on the season, 3-4 in conference action. The loss dropped Ripley to 7-9 (3-7 SHAC).
“This was a nice win for us, considering we had been off for a week and the next couple of weeks will be very busy” said Coach Rowe in her postgame interview with C103 Radio. “We didn’t know a whole lot about Ripley so I think our girls felt like they had a chance, sometimes we’re bad about beating ourselves before we even get on the floor. If they think they can win, they seem to really come out and play.”
“Tonight we just started slow, probably rusty from having a whole week off. I think that definitely made a difference. Ripley is a good team and you can’t take anything away from them.”
The early segments of the first set were back and forth with five ties and lead changes before the Lady Jays got a trio of service points from Ivy Bare to go up 10-7. The home side extended that advantage out to 19-10 when junior Harlie Polley reeled off five consecutive service aces. The Lady Dragons never got closer than five after an ace from libero Violet Randolph, but a return that went long gave the first set to the Lady Jays 25-19.
With the loss in the first set perhaps being a wake-up call, the Lady Dragons came out with a burst of fire in the second, roaring to a 9-3 lead with senior Ashlah Staten excelling at the service line. After Ripley got one point back, the visitors ran off five straight with Emmy Stapleton on the serve to lead 14-4.
The Lady Dragons maintained that margin, getting kills from Jocelyn Hall and Shelbi Weakley, until Ripley rallied behind a pair of service aces from Callie Fultz to cut the gap to 20-13. The West Union squad wasn’t rattled, however, as they claimed five of the set’s final seven points to even the match at one with a 25-15 win.
The third set began with the Lady Dragons taking a 5-2 lead before Ripley battled back to even the score at six. After two more ties, West Union pulled ahead 12-8 behind a pair of kills from Maddie Stout. but the Lady jays bounced right back to draw within one at 12-11. The trend continued as the Lady Dragons got the next three and Ripley the next two, leaving the visitors up 15-13.
Later in the set with Fultz back at the serve, the Lady Jays ran off four straight to take a 19-18 lead but the momentum shifted again with West Union taking four of the next five to go back in front at 22-20. After Ripley gained a side out to pull within one, West Union got kills from Stout and Weakley to get toset point at 24-21. A kill and an ace by Polley made it a one-point affair again, but Weakley put the finishing touches on the third set with a kill that sewed up the 25-23 win and a 2-1 lead in the match.
Needing one more set to take the match, the Lady Dragons took a quick 5-1 lead in the fourth set, getting a block and kill from Weakley to aid the cause. It looked like the visitors might go wire to wire in the final set until the Lady Jays got a pair of service aces from Polley and rallied to take a 14-13 lead. From that point on it was a back and forth battle, the home team trying to hang on and force a fifth set while the Lady Dragons looked to take the set and match and head back home to Adams County.
Ripley later grabbed a 20-17 lead but with junior Kale garrison serving, the scoreboard soon flipped to a 22-21 West Union advantage. Ripley retrieved the next side out to draw within one but a service error put West Union on top 23-21. The two teams swapped points again, leaving the Lady Dragons just one point from winning the match. Again, Ripley claimed the side out to pull within one but their ensuing serve did not clear the net and West Union took the tight third set 25-23 and therefore the match 3-1.
West Union was slated to be back in action on Tuesday, September 24 in another conference match up, traveling to the Hound Pound to face the Manchester Lady Greyhounds.
“We just have to practice hard ans want to get better,” added Coach Rowe. “It’s hard sometime when I have multi-sport athletes who have a lot going on all the time. When we have everyone there, we just need to focus in on the areas that we are weak in, one of the biggest of which is our serve-receive which we have known all season. We have to dictate how we come out an play every night.”
