John Marshall’s Sarah Naome attempts a kill while Winfield’s Brooklyn Cole defends the net during the two team’s Class AAA quarterfinals match Tuesday morning inside the Charleston Coliseum.

CHARLESTON — The John Marshall Monarchs made history on Tuesday, advancing to the WVSSAC Volleyball State Semifinals with a five-set victory over No. 5 Winfield, before falling in four hard-fought matches to top-seeded Herbert Hoover later in the day inside the Charleston Coliseum.

John Marshall, who finishes their season 25-9-3, became the first Monarchs team to make it to the state semifinals in their fourth trip to Charleston as a program. For Monarchs head coach Chelsea Eikleberry, the accomplishments and character of her team made for a successful season.

“At the end of the day, I’m just so, so proud of them,” Eikleberry said.

“We had a really, really special group of girls. I hate that we had to go out like this, but I mean, I told them, you have to hold your heads high. Losing today– they battled, they fought so hard, and that doesn’t change this season that we had. They put so much work and heart and grit into this season and I’m just so proud of them.

“Walking away tonight, not advancing, that doesn’t change who they are and how good of girls they truly are. I mean, they are smart, they are talented, they’re athletic and at the end of the day, that’s most important to me. And I’ll take that any day over walking away with the win.”

Against top-seeded Herbert Hoover, John Marshall came out swinging, and won the first set 25-23.

Addison Blake powered down the set-clinching kill from the outside. John Marshall took their first lead of the set at 18-17 on a kill by Nia Miller, followed by a service ace from Zoey Koontz.

“I think we started with a lot of momentum,” Eikleberry said. “We wanted to come out as winners tonight. We had a lot of energy. I felt like we were ready to play. Getting that first set under our belt was a really good feeling.

“But, Hoover is a good team. I mean, they blocked us. They covered really well. They got balls up. But that doesn’t take away from how good my girls played. They would have a strong hit. We would have a strong hit. They’d have a block. We would have a block.”

Herbert Hoover took the next three sets 25-19, 25-14, 26-24.

“We did miss a few serves tonight and we didn’t quite get the coverage as good as we could have,” Eikleberry said. “But my girls battled. They didn’t give up. They played with a lot of effort and energy and heart and I told them no matter how that game ended, if they gave 150% effort, I was going to be proud of them no matter what.

“I really, really wish that would have ended differently at the end of the day. I think that should have been a state championship match on Thursday. I think we might have been misplaced a little bit at the four seed. I was really thinking and believing that we would be the three [seed]. I think we earned the three seed. And I think that should have been the game on Thursday, not tonight.”

John Marshall defeated Winfield 25-17, 25-19, 24-26, 21-25, 15-4. A back-and-forth match saw the Monarchs take the first two sets, the General take the next two, with the fifth set a decisive John Marshall victory.

“Those two first two sets, I mean, we were on fire,” Eikleberry said. “We were playing our best. We had so much energy. We showed up ready. [Winfield] was a good team. I mean, that middle is probably the best middle in the state. If not the best, the top three. Props to them, they came back and I told those girls, be ready for everything, they’re going to come back with momentum, and they did. Our girls got a tiny bit comfortable. But that fifth set, I told them, we don’t want to go out. We don’t want to stop playing now. We want to keep it dancing.

“We knew we wanted to play Hoover. That fifth set, my girls came ready. They were ready to play. We had great swings. Our front row was on fire. And our back row– I will defend my back row as one of the best, if not the best, back rows in AAA. They gave it their all, and that’s all I could have asked. They knew they wanted to get to this game tonight.”

The Class AAA championship game will be played Thursday at 9 a.m. inside the Charleston Coliseum. Top-seeded Herbert Hoover will face No. 2 Shady Spring.

“Today our girls made history, getting to the semis,” Eikleberry said. “I was just really hoping we’d get to Thursday, but no matter what, our school, our community, they’re so proud of them. They’ve backed them up this whole season. And I mean, I can’t say much more about just how proud of them. I love each and every one of them. I’ve had great seniors, great leaders. They’re going to do great things. But we’re coming back next year. We’re going to be down here.”