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PM Comes From Behind To Beat Amherst
The Parry McCluer High School volleyball team used an improbable fifth-set comeback to record a 3-2 win over Amherst County in Buena Vista last Monday.
Later in the week, the Fighting Blues dropped their Pioneer District opener 3-0 at Narrows, and they went 0-5 against several larger schools in a tournament at James River High School to move their overall record to 6-8.
Against the Lancers, PM trailed 9-1 in the tiebreak set, only to battle back and win 17-15 in extras. The rally secured a 16-25, 25-23, 18-25, 25-21, 17-15 victory for the Blues, who earned a season split with Amherst (3-6).
“This team has a lot of grit,” PM head coach Jessie Moala said. “There’s some inexperience, but they really don’t give up. I’m really proud of them for the perseverance and effort. Pretty amazing.” Keely Mahaffey tallied 11 kills, nine assists, seven service aces and three blocks for PM. Natalie Mohler recorded 16 assists, 10 digs and three aces for the Blues, while Emory Slagle notched nine kills and Logan Vest posted 13 digs and five aces.
Hannah Mull totaled 17 kills and two blocks for the Lancers, while Kynslee Wilson racked up 30 assists, nine aces, seven kills and two blocks.
Amherst used an early 9-0 run, including three aces from Wilson, to take command of the opening set. Trailing 15-14 midway through the second frame, PM cashed in on three straight Peira Conner aces to assume an 18-15 lead, and a later 6-1 spurt allowed the Blues enough breathing room to hold off a late surge from the Lancers.
Buoyed by kills from six different players, Amherst built up a 20-10 advantage and fended off PM in the third set to regain the lead in the match.
The Lancers were ahead 20-18 late in the fourth set, but the Blues reeled off a 7-1 closing stretch that featured three kills from Slagle and – on the final two points – a kill and a stuff block from Mahaffey.
But the bigger rally was still to come. After three early aces from Mena Awanda sparked a 7-0 run that put Amherst ahead 9-1 in the final set, PM would start to chip away. Back-to-back aces from Mahaffey helped the Blues claw to within 11-8, and consecutive kills from Kadence Zollman and Slagle made it 13-11 in the Lancers’ favor.
A near miss on a good swing from Zollman gave Amherst multiple match points at 14-11. But a pair of Lancer errors sandwiched around an ace from Vest sent the set into extras.
An Ania Thompson kill created another match point for Amherst at 15-14. But Slagle delivered two kills in a row; following a Lancer timeout, Mohler served up an ace – PM’s fifth of the frame – for the clinching point.
“I thought their serving really came through in that fifth set,” said Moala, whose team lost 3-0 in Amherst on Sept. 5. “When we went there, serving was one of our biggest problems.”
Zollman finished with eight kills and two blocks for the Blues, while Conner chipped in four kills and six aces and Allie Cullen added nine digs. Thompson had six kills for the Lancers.
While the Blues made key plays at the right times late in the match, the biggest factor in Monday’s victory was undoubtedly the team’s resolve.
“Coach [assistant coach Michelle Mahaffey] and I were just talking to them… about how much grit we showed,” Moala said, referring to the postgame team huddle. “It is rare to come back from an eightpoint deficit in the fifth set.”
Narrows 3, PM 0
Narrows defeated visiting PM in straight sets in the Blues’ Pioneer District opener on Thursday.
Mohler tallied 15 assists, including her 100th of the season, but the Green Wave (6-3 overall, 2-0 district) overcame PM by a 25-18, 25-17, 25-18 count.
“Narrows is a very good team this year,” Moala said. “They have really utilized their big middles and outsides. It came down to communication, and they were better at it than we were.”
Zollman paced the Blues’ offense with five kills, while Cullen recorded four kills and 11 digs and Conner totaled three kills and three blocks. Vest had nine digs, and Mahaffey posted seven assists, six digs and four aces.
PM Goes 0-5 At JR
Competing against five schools from larger classifications, PM finished 0-5 in a tournament at James River High School on Saturday in Buchanan Playing a series of best-of-three matches, the Blues lost 2-1 to Appomattox and Rustburg and 2-0 to E.C. Glass, Alleghany and Franklin County. Cullen and Vest both collected their 100th digs of the season during the tournament.
The Blues were scheduled to travel to Eastern Montgomery last night and will continue district action with at home with a rematch against EM on Tuesday, starting with junior varsity action at 5:30 p.m. PM was scheduled to play host to Craig County this Thursday, but that showdown was rescheduled for Monday, Oct. 14.
