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End Regular Season With Wins Over Craig, Bath
The Parry McCluer High School volleyball team closed out the regular season last week with road victories over Pioneer District foes Craig County and Bath County.
With those wins, the Fighting Blues (12-11 overall, 6-4 district) clinched the No. 3 seed in this week’s district tournament. PM was scheduled to play host to sixth-seeded Highland County in the Pioneer quarterfinals on Monday. (See separate story.)
On Thursday evening, the Blues swept the Chargers (11-6, 7-3) in Hot Springs, claiming a 25-18, 25-18, 25-21 victory. Kadence Zollman tallied teamhighs of 13 kills and four blocks for PM, and Keely Mahaffey totaled 10 kills, 18 assists, 17 digs, four aces and a pair of blocks.
“The girls played so well,” PM head coach Jessie Moala said. “They were really locked in and were in tune with each other. I could not have been happier with how they supported and covered each other during the rallies.”
Natalie Mohler notched 18 assists, 15 digs and two aces for the Blues, while Logan Vest led the defensive effort with 21 digs. Emory Slagle recorded six kills and nine digs, Allie Cullen chipped in four kills and seven digs, and Peira Conner added three kills and two blocks.
When the two teams faced off in Buena Vista on Oct. 3, the Chargers eked out a win in a 5-set thriller. In assessing Thursday’s rematch, Moala praised both her team and her counterpart, Bath head coach Christina Harmon.
“Coach Harmon at Bath has done such a great job with her program, so our girls knew it would be a battle,” Moala said. “They came ready to play and got the job done. We are peaking at the right time.”
PM 3, CC 0
PM breezed by Craig County in straight sets in New Castle on Monday of last week.
Conner served up eight aces and also notched three kills and four digs as the Blues cruised to a 25-17, 25-10, 25-8 victory to sweep the season series over the Rockets (212, 2-8). When the teams met a week early at PM, the Blues won 3-0. In the rematch, Mohler finished with 13 assists, nine digs, three kills and two aces, and Mahaffey tallied five kills, nine assists, eight digs and five aces.
“Peira and Keely both killed it in the serving game,” Moala said. “The team played well together overall.”
Zollman paced the PM offense with six kills, while Cullen registered five kills and six digs and Vest posted eight digs.
The comfortable margins in the set scores allowed the Blues to utilize their bench, and Moala highlighted the contributions of freshman Josie Martinez and sophomore Jaelyn Manning.
“We got to play everyone, which is always great,” the PM coach said. “Our non-starters came in and had some great moments, including aces from Josie and Jaelyn.”
The winner of Monday’s quarterfinal match was slated to visit No. 2 seed Bath County in the semifinal round last night, and both the Pioneer championship and third-place playoff are set for tonight, with the higher seeds playing host. Visit www.thenews-gazette.com for the latest scores and schedule updates.
