CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The third set wasn’t a strong suit for Morgantown’s volleyball team for much of the 2026 season.
Just about everything else was.
Playing in the state final for a fifth consecutive season, the No. 3 seed Mohigans got the better of No. 4 Cabell Midland 25-14, 25-23, 17-25, 25-13 in the Class AAAA title game Thursday night at Vandalia Health Center.
“Volleyball is a great sport, because it’s the only sport where you’re like, ‘OK, back to zero’, and let’s see who wins from here.’ The girls did a really nice job,” MHS head coach Abigail Wolfe said. “We train a lot of mental skills during the year so that they stay calm, cool and collected. We saw that against Martinsburg when we were down and came back and crushed it in sets four and five yesterday [in a semifinal].”
The result gives Morgantown (43-12-7) a second straight state championship and third since 2023.
FINAL: Morgantown 3, Cabell Midland 1
Mohigans win fourth set 25-13 and are Class AAAA state champion for a second straight year. https://t.co/mrpyRYDcDj
— Greg Carey (@gcarey938) November 12, 2026
MHS jumped all over the Knights to start the match as the Mohigans raced out to a 7-1 lead that later grew to 14-4 on the strength of four straight points.
CMHS (44-8-2) responded to a 17-7 deficit with four consecutive points, three of which Brynn Ward accounted for on aces.
But the Knights got no closer than six the rest of the opening game, which finished with Derika Nestor and Kaylin Lindsey each sending down a kill to close it out for the Mohigans.
Midland was sharper throughout the second set, and despite being faced with a 12-8 deficit, the Knights answered the call and tied it at 13 after Lyla Johnson’s kill which led to a MHS timeout.
Morgantown led 17-14 before the Knights put together one of their best stretches by scoring nine of the next 12 points, with a kill from Katie Lawson giving Midland a 22-20 advantage that grew to three points moments later via a Mohigans’ attacking error.
At that point, Morgantown called another timeout — one that wound up working wonders.
Leah Greeny’s kill was the start of what was the important stretch of the match where the Mohigans scored five straight points to end the second set and rally for the 25-23 win. Nestor, Greeny and Lindsey each continued to be a force around the net and that trio had one kill apiece down the stretch to leave their team with a 2-0 lead.
“Sometimes it’s a lot of getting in the right rotations and being able to have really strong rotations at the right time,” Wolfe said. “We had an opportunity with really strong servers and really strong offense in order to earn those points. The matchups were key there.”
MHS led the third set 4-2, but it was all Knights from that point forward for the rest of that game.
Six straight points left Midland with a 16-8 advantage, and there would be no late Mohigans’ rally this time as the Knights scored four straight points after leading 21-17 and finished out the set courtesy of Johnson’s kill.
Any momentum garnered from Cabell Midland cutting its deficit to 2-1 was short-lived.
Outside of 4-3, Morgantown never trailed in the fourth set, and the Mohigans responded to that deficit with eight of the next nine points and led 12-5 following Greeny’s ace.
Morgantown maintained separation the rest of the way and never let the Knights get closer than five points, before sealing the outcome on the last of Greeny’s 17 kills.
Lindsey had 11 kills and Audrey Tompkins totaled 15 digs in the win.
Riley Brennan’s 21 assists led all players in the win and teammate Izzy Marra added 13.
“We have such strong athletes who are so dedicated to the sport,” Wolfe said. “They work really hard in the offseason and spend a lot of time traveling with clubs. You will not find a group of athletes that scouts another team and prepares more for any possible opponent.”
CLASS AAAA ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Sophia Ray, Martinsburg
Tia Leivilla, Musselman
Lyla Johnson, Cabell Midland
Payton Bowyer, Cabell Midland
Brynn Ward, Cabell Midland
Audrey Tompkins, Morgantown
Abby Paulsen, Morgantown
Leah Greeny, Morgantown