CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Entering Saturday’s Class A title match, Williamstown had dropped four of its five meetings with Ritchie County this season.
When the Yellowjackets dropped the opening set to the Rebels, it forced WHS to play from behind in its bid for its first volleyball championship since 2014.
Fortunately for Rachelle Cole’s team, that was no problem.
Williamstown rallied to win the final three sets, claiming a 19-25, 27-25, 25-13, 26-24 victory and state championship at the Charleston Coliseum.
“We’ve played Ritchie, so we know what they’re going to do and what it takes to beat them,” Cole said. “We just really needed to focus on that. If we played our game, we were going to be OK. We lost the first one and they were letdown a little bit, but I said, ‘we’ve done this a million times, we just have to push through it.’”
The Yellowjackets found themselves in pressure-packed situations throughout the contest, including a 25-24 deficit in the second set, before turning the tide by rattling off three unanswered points to tie it at one set apiece.
Cole credited reserve Gabby West for being a part of the momentum change in the match after West was forced to enter for an injured starter.
“We brought a girl in and that was the first time she was on the state floor,” Cole said of West. “She played great and kept her composure and helped push is into set three. Her stepping up and the team rallying around her to win set two is really what pushed us over the edge.”
Williamstown (30-9) was dominant in the third set, building leads of 12-6 and 20-8 en route to the 25-13 victory that put it on the brink of claiming a title.
The fourth and final set was close throughout, with WHS leading down the stretch, but never by more than two points. Ritchie (30-9) responded from a 21-19 deficit to tie it at 22, then came back from down 24-22 to get even at 24.
“The girls have had this desire the whole season,” Cole said. “We don’t really talk about it and didn’t want to jinx anything, but we knew we had a really solid team. After not losing any seniors last year, we have such solid leadership this year with our seniors and we knew we could do it. They really just fed off each other and kept each other calm and in the game.”
But Williamstown never wavered, and instead closed strong to set off a frenzied celebration and deny the Rebels of their first championship since 2009.
Ritchie now has four runner-up finishes since winning its last title.
Lakyn Joy contributed 30 assists, three kills and two blocks in the victory, while teammate Becca Shamblin had nine kills and three blocks.
Riah Sprouse added 11 kills and 10 blocks in the victory, while Williamstown’s Aubrey Erwin had 12 kills and six blocks. Claire Strobl contribured six kills and five blocks and the Yellowjackets also got eight kills from Payton Woodard.