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A balanced offensive attack fueled Alleghany to a 3-0 victory over the Parry McCluer High School volleyball team in a non-district match in Buena Vista on Wednesday of last week.
Kaiya Lian tallied a matchhigh nine kills and chipped in two service aces as the Cougars, who ended the week with a record of 5-2, won 25-17, 25-11, 25-20. Sydney Mahaffey paced the Fighting Blues (0-4) with six kills and one service ace, and Natalie Mohler totaled seven assists and an ace.
With the win, Alleghany completed a sweep of the season series with PM. When the two teams met on Aug. 24 at Alleghany, the Cougars also won 3-0.
While no Cougar reached double figures individually, seven different players had multiple kills in the match. With the two Alleghany setters distributing the ball evenly – Holly Dressler recorded 13 assists, and Jayahna Hughes notched nine assists and a pair of kills – the Alleghany offense kept the Blues off balance for most of the match.
Bryce Leitch and Kinsey Middleton chipped in five kills apiece for the Cougars, while Hannah Hensley and Laken Tingler each totaled four.
“They’re very talented hitters; their setter is a good setter,” PM head coach Jessie Moala said of Alleghany. “They just really kept us on our toes and made us have to be ready for everything.”
The opening set was tight until midway through, when the Cougars used a 5-1 spurt to assume a 16-11 lead. PM wouldn’t come any closer than four points for the rest of the stanza.
Alleghany jumped out to a 9-3 advantage in the second frame and – despite three kills from Mahaffey – the Blues never got back in it. Six different Cougars recorded kills in the set, led by three from Lian and two apiece from Hensley, Leitch, Middleton and Trinity Scott.
But the third set was much closer. After PM led 6-5 early, an extended 9-2 stretch gave the Cougars a 14-8 advantage. PM stayed within striking distance and trimmed the gap to 22-20 on a kill from Tatyana Turner, but a key kill from Lian – one of five that she recorded in the frame – and a block from Leitch and Hensley helped Alleghany put the match away.
Even though the Blues came up empty-handed, Moala believes that her team showed its potential during the final stanza.
“I thought our girls adapted well by the third set,” the PM coach said. “The third set really showed our type of volleyball. … They’re getting more comfortable with themselves, and trusting each other more.”
And there were other bright spots for the Blues. Junior libero Logan Vest – who’s new to the starting role – played well on the back row, and Mahaffey turned in another impressive performance spearheading the PM attack.
“I think our libero [Vest] was pretty solid tonight,” Moala said. “Sydney Mahaffey was quite the contender up at the net … Just having her being so solid really brings up the other ones to a higher level.”
Turner and Kadence Zollman each finished with two kills for the Blues. Keely Mahaffey posted one block and three assists, and Peira Conner had one block and one ace.
As Pioneer District play begins this week, PM is still searching for its first win of the season. But the Blues’ four losses have all come against bigger schools – two to Alleghany and two against Rockbridge County – and Moala hopes that their challenging early-season schedule will pay off in the long run.
“They knew that our toughest matches were right at the beginning” of the season, Moala said. “They could go in knowing that there’s going to be a challenge, so that they had to rise to the occasion. I think that’s going to help us prepare for [district play].”
PM was slated to kick off Pioneer District action at Narrows last night, and the Blues will travel to Eastern Montgomery for a district match on Thursday before returning home to face nondistrict foe Amherst County on Monday. Each night is scheduled to start with junior varsity action at 5:30 p.m.
