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WEIRTON -- The Weir volleyball team appeared to be well on its way to defeating Big Red, however, the tide turned and the Red Riders were not able to respond.
Weir won the first two games of the match, but Big Red regrouped and won the next three games to stun the Red Riders, 18-25, 18-25, 25-17, 25-21, 15-2, in a Red-and-Black affair Thursday night on Ron “Fritz” Williams Court inside the Carl Hamill Fieldhouse.
“The lineup first of all,” Big Red (8-9) head coach Kristin Taylor said asked what changed for her team in the final three games. “I tweaked the lineup because of their hitters.
“Tonight was a perfect example of how things have gone all season long. They have it in them. Sometimes, they fail to let it out. Tonight they did. To be honest, tonight was the perfect example of everyone contributing and everyone going all out. Great things happen to our team when everyone comes together. They all did their job. That is why we were successful.”
After winning two straight games, Big Red had all of the momentum going into Game 5, and the Big Red did not let their foot off the gas. Big Red raced out to a 7-0 lead in the decisive game and never looked back as the pulled away for a 13-point win.
“Big Red played real slow,” Weir (6-13) head coach Fran Capaldi said. “Big Red played at a slow pace. When teams play slow, we play down to their level. When a team plays fast, we stay fast. When a team plays slow, we do not try to change the pace.”
The Red Riders raised their level of play at the end of the first game to pull away to take a 1-0 lead in the match, and Weir came out on fire to start Game 2 as the hosts built a commanding 15-3 lead. The rest of the night, however, belonged to the girls from Jefferson County.
Trailing by 12 points, Big Red battled back and pulled within five points at 23-18 before Weir was finally able to put the game away.
Big Red began to turn the tide in Game 3, and once they had the momentum they did not allow it to slip away.
The visitors won the third game by seven points and the fourth one by four to force the final game.
Individually for Big Red, Tori Mitchell tallied 14 points, 19 kills and nine blocks, Maggi Cucarese contributed 21 points, two aces and 33 assists and Kiera O’Brien ended up with 18 points, three kills and six digs. Also, Sarah Allen netted 16 points, five kills and four digs.
“Defensively, they are a great team,” Taylor said. “In the first two sets, they were hitting their spots, and we were not doing our best job of covering. In the third set, we were more aggresive at the net. We hit more. We blocked more. We found our rhythm. We did not let up. We did not play timid. We played aggressive.”
For Weir, Mallory Rosnick recorded 16 kills, one block, seven digs, two assists and five aces, Mea Kaufman finished with three kills, 13 digs, one block and 29 assists and Ziona Barnes ended up with 12 kills, two blocks, six digs and two aces. Also, Baylei Mills tallied two kills, nine blocks and two digs, Rylee Donaldson delivered two kills, three digs and three aces and Janai Turner contributed 16 digs and four assists. Finally, Lydia Mascio added two kills and once ace, and Bre Parsons produced seven digs.
“We did not pass,” Capaldi said. “We did not play defense. We did not communicate. They did what they normally do. They pounced on our mistakes.”
Thursday was the cutoff day for teams to qualify for the upcoming OVAC Tournament. The top four teams in each class qualify for the tournament.
Big Red is scheduled to play Jefferson County for Indian Creek Monday on the road. The Redskins defeated Big Red earlier in the season inside the Crimson Center.
Weir is slated to play John Marshall Thursday at home.
“It is going to be a good long break for us,” Capaldi said.