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WEIRTON -- The Madonna volleyball team struggled early on against Valley, however, the Blue Dons eventually found their footing and took control of the match.
The Blue Dons won a tightly-contested first set, and No. 4 seed Madonna won the next two sets going away enroute to sweeping Valley, 25-22, 25-15, 25-12, in a West Virginia Region 1, Section 1 match up Monday night on Joanna Bernabei-McNamee Court inside Bill Barrett Gymnasium.
“It took some time for us to wake up,” Madonna (11-11) head coach Theresa Moore said. “We made a couple momentum plays. We needed those momentum plays to get us fired up.”
The first set was back-and-forth, but the Blue Dons took control early on in the next two.
“We made some mistakes,” Valley (10-17) head coach Gabby Palmer said. “That’s what we did. Also, our serving. We gave up a lot of points on our serves. That really hurt us.”
With the win, Madonna will play No. 1 seed Magnolia in a sectional semifinal match at 6 p.m. today at Paden City.
For Madonna, Bella DiPietrantonio tallied 10 kills, Brianna Glosser recorded seven kills and Morgan Owens ended up with six kills. Also, Anna Backel collected 15 digs.
“They really didn’t do anything different from when we played them earlier,” Palmer said.
The first set was close early on as both teams held the lead. The score was deadlocked at 9-all before the Dons took a 14-10 lead forcing Palmer to call timeout. The lead grew to 15-10, but the team from Wetzel County battled back and pulled within 15-14 only to see the hosts regroup and build their lead up to 20-15 forcing the visitors to call another timeout. Valley’s backs were up against the wall, but the visitors responded once again and scored five of the next six points forcing Moore to call a timeout with the score at 21-20.
The home team took a 24-22 lead, and ended up winning the set on a ball that was just inside the line giving Madonna a 1-0 lead in the match.
“Valley is a scrappy team,” Moore said. “They hustle. They play very-good defense.”
The victors raced out to a 6-2 lead in set two, forcing Valley to call a timeout. The Blue Dons ended up building a 15-5 lead resulting in Palmer calling her second timeout of the set. Valley pulled within seven points at 18-11, but that is as close as it got as Madonna pulled away to win the second set by 10 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
“For the most part I think it was our serving,” Moore said asked what enabled her team to build its momentum in the match. “We want on long runs thanks our serving. That was key for us.”
The Blue Dons once again got off to a good start in the third set as Palmer called a timeout with her team trailing, 7-1. Valley refused to go away as it fought back and closed to within 8-6, however, Madonna answered and took an 18-8 lead forcing Palmer to call another timeout. The Blue Dons were not going to be denied a postseason victory as Madonna kept the momentum on its side as the home team pulled away for a 13-point win in the set to sweep the match.
“I think our hitting offense has gotten better,” Moore said asked what has led to her team’s turnaround this season. “We are more creative and more confident with our swings and our attacking.”
The match was the final one for Valley’s two seniors.
“We are really going to miss them,” Palmer said. “They were great leaders.”