Herbert Hoover was one point away from tying its Class AA state volleyball tournament quarterfinal match against Philip Barbour at one game apeice, but the Huskies could not get the ball to land on the Colts' side of the court.
"Mentally it was really tough for the girls to see Hannah go down with the ankle," Anita King said. "She's by far our leading hitter and that was unfortunate. I don't think we ever regrouped after that."
The Huskies could never get within six points as Philip Barbour powered through the finish to end Hoover's season.
Despite the loss, the future is bright for the volleyball program at Herbert Hoover. King, the coach, has led the team to consecutive state tournament appearances in her first two years at the helm and loses only one senior, Damia Mogielski, to graduation.
"I think in years past Herbert Hoover has had a strong tradition in volleyball but it went away and got a little dark there for a little while," King, a 1993 Hoover graduate, said. "I'm an alumni of that long tradition. I had two of my three high school years at the state tournament as a player so that's one of the reasons I came back and started coaching at Hoover."
Reach Tom Bragg at tom.br...@wvgazette.com.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Herbert Hoover was one point away from tying its Class AA state volleyball tournament quarterfinal match against Philip Barbour at one game apeice, but the Huskies could not get the ball to land on the Colts' side of the court.
Hoover let the game slip away and went on the lose the match 25-16, 26-24, 25-11 Friday afternoon at the Charleston Civic Center.
"I think the girls felt like they let one get away," Huskies coach Anita King said. "We were playing in spurts. We'd go all out for six or seven points, fight and fight and we would get up two points and relax. You cannot relax on a team like Philip Barbour."
In the first game the Colts and Huskies played even to start the match until Philip Barbour made a run midway through. The Colts extended their lead to 22-13 before Hoover mounted a small comeback to cut the score to 22-16. Philip Barbour scored the final three points to close the game.
The second game followed a similar script to the first, with both teams trading points early before the Colts jumped in front. The lead swelled to 12-7 before the Huskies made their move and came back to tie the score at 14-14. From there it was back and fourth, with the lead changing five times before Hoover was serving for the match at 24-23.
Philip Barbour came back to knot the score at 24 before winning the final two points on Hoover mistakes at the net.
"All year long we've been day and night," Philip Barbour coach Heather Halfin said. "We've only really put together, in my opinion, a complete game one time this year. I was so proud of them for fighting."
In the third game, Hoover's Hannah King went down with an ankle injury on the game's second point. The Huskies' junior left the contest while the Colts rang up a 9-0 lead. Hoover called a timeout to reinsert King, a member of last year's Class AAA all-tournament team.
"Mentally it was really tough for the girls to see Hannah go down with the ankle," Anita King said. "She's by far our leading hitter and that was unfortunate. I don't think we ever regrouped after that."
The Huskies could never get within six points as Philip Barbour powered through the finish to end Hoover's season.
Despite the loss, the future is bright for the volleyball program at Herbert Hoover. King, the coach, has led the team to consecutive state tournament appearances in her first two years at the helm and loses only one senior, Damia Mogielski, to graduation.
"I think in years past Herbert Hoover has had a strong tradition in volleyball but it went away and got a little dark there for a little while," King, a 1993 Hoover graduate, said. "I'm an alumni of that long tradition. I had two of my three high school years at the state tournament as a player so that's one of the reasons I came back and started coaching at Hoover."
Reach Tom Bragg at tom.br...@wvgazette.com.
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