(Late Tuesday)

VOLLEYBALL

Madonna Rolls vs. Cameron

WEIRTON — The Blue Dons had a long wait to take the court for their tournament opener.

They made the wait well worth it.

Once the match with the No. 8 Cameron Dragons — who prevailed against No. 9 Clarksburg Notre Dame earlier in the day — got going, it was pretty much all Blue Dons. Madonna got stronger as they went, rolling to a sweep in the Class A Region 1 quarterfinals by scores of 25-14, 25-12, 25-5.

With the win, which improved Madonna’s season mark to a sparkling 25-9-1, the Dons advance to the regional semis, which they will host on Thursday. They’ll No. 4 Magnolia on the Joanna Bernabei-McNamee Court.

Cameron and Notre Dame will rematch in the loser’s bracket on Thursday. The winner of Thursday’s winner’s bracket match will advance to the regional final next week having to be beaten twice.

The Dons got off to quick starts in all three sets against Cameron. In the first two, the Dragons battled back for a while before Madonna pulled away. In the third set, there was no push back as Madonna cruised to closing things out. It was their third win over Cameron this season.

For Madonna, Geena Birkhimer tallied 12 kills, four digs, two blocks and two aces, Madi Owens recorded seven kills, three aces and three digs, Becca Birkhimer tallied 10 digs, Lacy Quering recorded seven kills, Rylee Birkhimer finished with six kills, three aces and five digs, and Sophie Brady racked up 27 assists, five aces and seven digs.

Blue Eagles Advance Over Warriors

NEW MARTINSVILLE — Magnolia defeated Trinity Christian on Tuesday in both team’s first foray into W.Va.’s Class A Region 1 tournament, winning in four sets, 25-23, 25-19, 22-25, 25-21.

Jessa Anderson starred for Magnolia with 23 kills, a team-high, and four service aces, tied for the team-high with Sidney Knight. Anderson had 19 digs and Knight had 18 digs.

Knight had eight kills, as did Karli Warder.

Hallee Beisel led the team with 29 digs. Sydney Quinet set up her teammates to the tune of 40 assists. She also had 19 digs.

Magnolia, seeded fourth in the region, will now face No. 1 Madonna on Thursday as both teams are looking to avoid their first loss in the double-elimination tournament.