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Wheeling Central Rallies Past Cameron

Maroon Knights take three straight after dropping first set

Photo by Kyle Lutz Wheeling Cental’s Kaitlyn Angalich attempts a bump during a match with Cameron on Wednesday night at Cameron High School. The Maroon Knights won in four sets.

CAMERON — With the fall season still young, Wheeling Central coach Donnie Murray knew that he and his volleyball squad was going to have to go through a process of getting used to a new system. However, the Maroon Knights do have senior leadership in the mix.

After letting a nine-point lead and the first set slip away, Wheeling Central secured the next three as it defeated Cameron 22-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-19 on Wednesday night at Cameron High School.

“This is our fourth game together,” Murray said. “Coming in, new coach, new year. I think we’re still in the process of them getting used to the way I coach, me getting used to the way they play. We run a different offensive and defensive system than I’ve ever ran before, but you try to put them in a position to play to their strengths.

“That’s what we’re trying to do. We have a very tall lineup, we have a very powerful lineup. We’re very young, but we’re also very experienced. We’re just trying to find a way to get everybody together in the right capacity that continues to let us click and flow as we go through.”

Although the Maroon Knights did take the second set, it did not come without a fight. Up 14-5, the Dragons fought their way back and eventually tied it at 16-16 on an ace. The Maroon Knights clawed their way back out to a 21-17 advantage, only to see the Dragons score four of the next five points to pull within one, 22-21.

The Maroon Knights showed some resilience of their own and scored three of the final four points to take the set.

“They’re just a gutsy team,” Murray said of Cameron. “We played them in a tri-match with Madonna, which was kind of an early season sectional who’s-who. Hats off to their coach (Brackin Fish). Jordyn Hughes is just a phenomenal athlete They found a way to develop some players around her. They make us very nervous going into sectionals because at anytime they came in and swooped the first set and we’re playing from behind. The more they continue to play together, the more dangerous they’re going to be and I think in that same regard, the more comfortable we get with each other. We’re able to start getting those pairings and those matchups that we want on the net and we have a chance to showcase those strong hitters. I think we’ll be OK. I think we’ll be a force.”

The Dragons saw themselves in a late hole yet again in the third set, 22-17. Again, Cameron made it interesting getting within one, 23-22 only to see the Maroon Knights take the final two points.

“I said it to the girls, I hate that we get in the hole, but I’m very proud of them that they can dig themselves out of a hole,” Fish said. “It seems like it was just one server, that kind of dug us into a hole, but once we got away from her, we seemed to dig out of the hole we got ourselves into.”

With the score tied at 16-16 in the fourth set, Wheeling Central all but put the match out of reach as it scored the next nine points to take a commanding 24-16 lead.

“Central’s probably one of the toughest teams we will see this season,” Fish said. “I’m very proud of these girls. We can compete with Central like that, we made the comment in our last huddle, they played until the very last point. They never gave up. Not a single one of them didn’t hustle, didn’t do anything. They gave me everything they got.”

Hughes had 26 blocks, and six digs for the Dragons while Callie O’Neil secured 27 blocks while Raven Strope compiled five blocks and three digs.

The Dragons got their lone win of the match after being down 14-5 in the first set. They were able to go on a 12-3 run to tie it at 17-17. The Knights bounced back and took a slim 22-21 lead, but the Dragons scored the final four points to take the set.

Leading the way for Wheeling Central was Kaitlyn Angalich (six aces, seven digs), Michelle Roth (18 assists), Kayla Gilligan (14 kills) and Madison LeMasters (six aces, five kills).

“The girls, their focus is to develop the program,” Murray said. “Make the program relevant and I think that’s the focus with the seniors is they got to step up and be leaders, have the underclassmen learn under that tutelage and be ready to go forward. We’re a very conditioned team. We spend a lot time in practice on the fundamentals, but we spend a lot of time on conditioning. I think that’s the strength, the experience and the showing of the guts they show, the heart that they put out there and the experience is what’s going to make us a great team. It’s all going to come from the seniors, have the underclassmen feed off it and we just continue the process.”

Monroe Central d. Frontier

25-9, 25-15, 25-18

WOODSFIELD — Rymie Bishop filled up the state sheet with 13 points, four aces, eight kills, six assists and a block as Monroe Central swept Frontier.

Amy Bettinger led the Seminoles (2-3) with 12 kills and a block. Sydney Yoho added 26 digs and Elaina Swallow dished out 20 assists.

Toronto d. Edison

21-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-17

TORONTO — Maddie Anderson delivered nine kills and 10 blocks as Toronto defeated Edison. . Madison Sapp produced 12 points and 14 assists. Riley Kinsey recorded 20 assists for the Red Knights.

Mikayla Petrisko had eight points and three aces. Karissa Speedy tallied five assists for the Wildcats while Gracie Phillips had three assists and three points.

River d. Bridgeport

25-14, 25-15, 25-12

HANNIBAL — Cortny Sapp stuffed the stat sheet with seven aces, six kills, eight digs and 17 points as River swept Bridgeport. Lauren Flannery had six aces, four digs and 18 points for the Pilots while Allison Bennett had 29 assists, nine points and four points.

Late Tuesday

Wheeling Central d. Weir

25-17, 14-25, 25-27, 25-18, 15-7

WEIRTON — Michelle Roth tallied 19 assists and four digs as Wheeling Central defeated Weir. Kayla Gilligan added 14 kills and five aces for the Maroon Knights while Rachel Cupp secured seven kills.

SOCCER

Boys

Brooke 2, Steubenville Catholic 2

WELLSBURG — Brooke and Steubenville Catholic battled to a tie.

The Bruins (4-2-1) saw Josh Ferguson record both goals, while Blaise Buchmelter added the lone assist. Matt Reed and Garret Bernardini combined for 18 saves.

Mike Herrman and Tom Biegel scored unassited goals for the Crusaders (2-0-1). Travis Shore made nine saves.

Girls

Oak Glen 7, East Liverpool 0

NEW MANCHESTER — Maggie Kovalcik recorded a hat trick and added an assist as Oak Glen steamrolled East Liverpool.

Abigail Myers chipped in with two goals and an assists, while Reece Enochs and Martina Fish added the other goals. Brooklyn Loveland had two assists for the Golden Bears (5-1).

Kaylee Travis made eight saves in preserving the shutout.

GOLF

John Marshall 190, Brooke 206

WELLSBURG — Ryan Campbell carded a 44, while teammates Ryan Campbell and Adam Miller each shot a 48 to lead John Marshall past Brooke.

Brooke’s Ryan Bilby was match medalist with a 37.

Madonna, which competed but didn’t record a team score, was led by Chad Durante with a 49.

Bridgeport, 179; Magnolia, 190; Martins Ferry, 202

WHEELING — Kevin Herink’s 42 helped lead Bridgeport past Magnolia and Martins Ferry.

Trey Blain carded a 35 for the Blue Eagles to earn match medalist.

Sophomore Luke Krol shot a 38 for the Purple Riders.

Wheeling Park 315, Cambridge 362, Meadowbrook 410

WHEELING — James Salvatori shot a 4-over par 75 to earn match medalist and lead Wheeling Park to a victory against Meadowbrook and Cambridge.

Noah Seivertson shot a 76, followed by Ryan Payne (78), Dorothy Romanek (86) and Lydia Simon (91).

Ian Smith led Cambridge (77) and Cage Black (85) topped Meadowbrook.

Wheeling Central 168 Fort Frye 212

JC Maxwell tallied a 39 while Derrick Harrison hit a 40 as Wheeling Central defeated Fort Frye. Zach Mazur turned in a 43 for the Maroon Knights while Matt Mazur had a 46.

CROSS COUNTRY

Martins Ferry Wins Buckeye 8

CONNORVILLE — Both the Ferry boys and girls claimed the Buckeye 8 Athletic League championships despite oppressive heat with temperatures in the low 90s when the races went off.

Winning the league title has become sort of the norm for the Purple Rider boys. They’ve now claimed five titles in a row, while the girls snapped Bellaire’s five-year stranglehold on the crown to garner their first title.

Senior Justin Geery won by more than 20 seconds with a time of 17:24.

Harrison Central’s Jasmine Arnold ran a 19:59 to win the girls title. The Purple Riders’ Natalie Forsythe was the girls’ runner up with a time of 20:33.

COLLEGE

Charleston 2, West Liberty

CHARLESTON — The West Liberty University men’s soccer team came up short in its Mountain East Conference debut, dropping a hard-fought 2-0 decision to the University of Charleston’s defending national champions at Schoenbaum Stadium.

Florian Dupuis played well in net for West Liberty, saving five shots.

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