In the best of five matches to win the Region I championship at Tyler Consolidated High School Nov. 3, the Lady Knights would prevail against Magnolia 25-17, 30-29, and 25-17 after losing a 24-26 overtime set to the Lady Eagles.

Audrey Gibb smacked a long one to the Knights’ back row to give Magnolia the lead. Emily Clegg added two straight service aces to give the visitors a 3-0 lead to open the second set.

The Lady Knight front line squeaked in a dink to get them on the board, but a Mallory Chapman kill returned the serve back to MHS. However, the first of several bad serves cost the Lady Eagles a point. The Knights won a long volley before Katie Blatt landed a monster kill.

With Chapman serving, Magnolia would tally two straight points before the Knights landed a kill of their own. However, a bad serve by each team and a Kiera Standiford attack put the Big Blue up 9-5.

With Ashley Moore at the line, the Eagles would increase their lead to 13-5 after a Gibb attack at the net.

However, eight straight points by the Lady Knights had the set knotted up at 13. Tyler would add three more points before Gibb landed an attack to break serve.

It went back and forth until Magnolia knotted the set at 20 with a Chapman service ace. The teams were then tied at 24 before the set ended with an Emily Clegg kill for a Magnolia 26-24 victory that sent the match into the third set with each team claiming one win.

In the third set, Magnolia raced out to a 9-6 advantage, but the Knights would tie it up at 16-16 to make things more interesting. Both teams traded points until the Eagles were one point away from victory at 24-23.

The Silver Knights scored two straight points and were on the verge of winning the match when Magnolia reclaimed the lead at 26-25.

It continued that way until the Knights took a 30-29 lead and won the set on a kill, 31-29.

After the match, MHS Head Coach Pam Chapman said, “I think maybe if we were fresh, it might have been a little different. I think our conditioning had a play in that also.

“We spent a lot of energy in those two first sets. Whenever we play Tyler, it’s always a good game. I think a fresh game would have ended a little differently.”

Tyler would go on to claim the fourth set to win the match, 25-17, to lay claim the championship. The top two teams from each region go to state, so the Lady Eagles will still compete in Charleston. But Chapman says the honor still doesn’t help the sting of defeat.

“It’s always kind of (bittersweet) because you always want to win no matter what. Both of us are going to the state tournament, but our players know when you get to the finals you still want to win. Even though we are going to state, we wanted to come out and be Region I champions.”

Mallory Chapman had another triple-double, 30 digs, 19 points, four aces, 17 kills, and made nine blocks to pace the Eagles. Emily Clegg added 15 points, four aces ,and made five kills, while Cline dished out 34 assists and scored 13 points that included a pair of service aces. Moore also tallied 13 points, including six aces, and made 10 digs, while Hillary Feldmeier contributed 10 points.

The Eagles will play next at the Charleston Civic Center Friday against Sherman at 1:30 p.m. The winner of that match will play the winner of Williamstown vs. Pendleton County following a 6:30 p.m. Friday match. The winner of that contest will play for the Class-A state championship on Saturday afternoon, following the Class-AAA title match.

Six Magnolia spikers scored in double figures that included 12 service aces to help Magnolia knock off the OVAC Class-A Champions Weirton Madonna, 25-21, 25-11, and 25-19 in the Region I Section I Championship match inside the Wheeling Central Gymnasium, Oct. 31. The Lady Eagles dropped the second set 23-25 to Madonna.

Emily Clegg paced Magnolia with a match-high 22 points, three aces, 13 digs, and seven kills, while Mallory Chapman recorded a triple-double: 19 points, three aces, 45 digs, 25 kills, while blocking eight shots to lead the Blue Eagles.

In addition, Lauren Cline dished out 35 assists, scored 17 points that included two service aces, and made five digs, while Hillary Feldmeier contributed 16 points and made 21 digs. Erinn Clegg provided 11 markers plus an ace, while Ashley Moore netted 11 points, three aces, and provided 30 digs.

Also contributing were Lady Eagles Katie Blatt, with 15 kills; Kiera Standiford, with 10 kills and three blocks; Audrey Gibb, nine kills; and Abby Durig, made eight digs.

*****

In the earlier sectional semifinals, Magnolia defeated the designated home team, Wheeling Central, 25-11, 25- 13, and 28-26.

Erinn Clegg netted 20 points that included an ace, while Feldmeier contributed 12 points, an ace, and seven digs to pace the Blue Eagle netters. Cline and Emily Clegg each provided 11 points, while Cline added 28 assists and Clegg smacked seven kills. Chapman had another triple-double – 18 digs, 17 kills, and scored 10 points – that included a service ace.

From the service line, Moore contributed nine points that included a pair of aces and seven digs, while Durig made five digs. Blatt, Standiford, and Gibb teamed for 15 kills.

Region I Semi-Final

Chapman started the first set with a vicious kill and Erinn Clegg ended the match with a service ace to help Magnolia to a 25-15 victory over Paten City in set one of a best of five Region I semi-final Nov. 3 at Tyler Consolidated High School.

The Lady Eagles jumped out front 3-0 with the Chapman kill, an Emily Clegg service ace, and a nice long volley that went the way of the Eagles.

The ‘Cats scored twice after back-to-back kills by Lynnsie Parsons and Myah Charkawi, but a net serve ended the run. Five straight Eagle points, highlighted by a Feldmeier service ace, gave the Blue a 10-2 advantage and made it an uphill battle for the Wildcats.

The ‘Cats made a late run with three straight Charkawi service aces, but Magnolia closed it out with a block by Gibb, a pair of Chapman kills, and a service ace from Erinn Clegg.

In the second set, after a long volley, Chapman slammed home a kill to give MHS the lead. Pierce belted a kill of her own to win back the serve for the Lady ‘Cats, but the serve went into the net and the Eagles went up 3-1. However, the Eagles also had a net serve, but regained the serve after another Chapman kill.

With Logan Cosper at the line for the ‘Cats, the Green would make a mini-run off an ace and a Hizer kill to take a 4-5 lead. A Chapman kill knotted the set at five, but, following a kill by Parsons and a nice volley, Paden City had a two-point lead.

A block from Standiford and a nice dig by Feldmeier put Magnolia back in the lead, 9-7. However, Hizer killed the volleyball to inch the ‘Cats to within a point. After kills by Standiford and a Cline dink, the Lady Eagles started to pull away. Magnolia’s Blatt ended the second set with a kill and a Magnolia 25-13 win to put them one win away from playing for the Regional title.

The third set was close throughout, but in the end it was Magnolia moving on and Paden City finishing the season with a 29-11 record.

Paden City seniors Lynnsie Parsons had double-digit kills, while Logan Cosper ended her senior season with 11 points and 20 assists on 86 sets. Parsons and Fox each added six points and four digs, while Charkawi and Taylor Cosper teamed for 21 points and 18 digs. Baker tallied three points, five digs, and made two kills, while Hizer and Pierce combined with six kills.

Chapman had her fourth straight triple double, with 17 kills, 16 digs, three aces, and 12 points, while Feldmeier paced the Eagles with 17 points, three aces, and 12 digs. Erinn Clegg added 13 points and had a pair of service aces, while Moore tallied 11 points, two aces, and 10 digs. Cline scored 10 points, one ace, and made 21 assists.