Golden Bears win Region 1 title, advance to states
Trending
NEW MANCHESTER -- The tradition-rich Oak Glen volleyball team is state-bound once again.
The Golden Bears were impressive in sweeping Keyser and Frankfort to win the Class AA Region 1 volleyball championship before a large crowd in the Golden Bears gymnasium Saturday, while earning a trip to this weekend's state tournament in Charleston.
"It's hard to point out one player when you have so many," said Oak Glen head coach Morgan Poling, who was very pleased with the overall performance of her talented squad.
Meanwhile, Frankfort, which finished as the Class AA Region 1 runner-up to Oak Glen, also punched its ticket to state after staging an impressive comeback to edge Weir in five sets by scores of 21-25, 17-25, 26-24, 25-15 and 15-8.
"We haven't been to state since 2017," said Frankfort head coach Brooke Alkire-Higson. "I'm real proud of these kids, we were actually ranked fourth in our Section, came back and beat the No. 1 team and the won the whole sectional title and then we came here and knocked out Weir, so it was kind of a big day."
Oak Glen, which dominated, left no doubt who the best team in the tourney was, as it opened with a 25-20, 25-12 and 25-10 romp over Keyser and followed that up with a 25-15, 25-15, 25-17 triumph over Frankfort in the title match.
With Saturday's wins, the Golden Bears, who won the state Class AA title in 2019 with a 38-0 record and has added two state trips to their resume since then, raised their record to 23-8.
In the championship win over Frankfort, leading Oak Glen was Ashlyn Six (22 kills), Mckenzi Martin (seven kills), Makayla Zoellers (six kills), Gracie Wright (35 assists) and Teya Hall (eight digs).
"I'm so excited, I'm pumped," said Six of going to state.
The multi-talented sophomore rocketed kill after kill over the net against the Falcons. She was quick to praise her teammates for elevating her play on the court.
"Everyone gets hyped up and it just really helps," she said. "Everyone's there, like if I'm I'm down and having a rough time, they are there to pick me up."
The best part of Oak Glen's success this season is that it's happening with a fairly youthful team.
"We're fairly young, we only have four seniors," explained Poling. "We have a freshman and a sophomore on the floor but there has been a lot of growth this season and you can tell that by where we're at now."
The Golden Bears set the tone for the day by rolling over Keyser in three one-sided sets in the opening match.
In that semifinal vs. Keyser, the Golden Bears' statistical leaders included Six (17 kills), Zoellers (eight kills), Emma Renfro (six kills) and Wright (35 assists).
"Ashlyn Six does a great job for us, but it's definitely a team effort to get the job done," added Poling.
The Oak Glen coach can't wait to see her team take the court at state.
"This year we'll go down and see what we can do," said Poling. "I think we'll definitely be in the running (at state), there's going to be some good teams down there like Shady Spring and Philip Barbour, but we'll go down there and try to play our best volleyball."
Six was asked her goals in Charleston.
"To get the title," quickly answered the Golden Bears' standout.
The state tournament will be held Friday and Saturday in the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center. Seeding for the tourney was done through voting by the coaches. Oak Glen was chosen as the No. 5 seed and will open with No. 4 Winfield at 8:30 a.m. Friday.
In one of the semifinals Saturday at Oak Glen, Weir appeared well on its way to earning a trip to state. The Red Riders won their first two sets against Frankfort and were tied at 24-24 in the third set and were at the threshold of advancing. But the Falcons rallied for a 26-24 win and the entire momentum of the overall match changed with that result.
Frankfort the got on a roll and won the next two sets by scores of 25-15 and 15-8 to pull off the come-from-behind win and advance to state. Weir also suffered an injury to a front line player who couldn't return during the fourth set.
Frankfort carries a 14-20 record into the state tourney.
"We're just real excited to head back down there (to Charleston) and represent our little county in Mineral County and play some volleyball," added Frankfort's Alkire-Higson.
Leading the Red Riders against Frankfort were Mea Kaufman (40 assists, 11 digs, three aces), Ziona Barnes (four digs, one block, 20 kills), Mallory Rosnick (15 digs, 12 kills), Janai Turner (23 digs, one kill, two aces), Lydia Mascio (one block, one ace), Bailei Mills (seven blocks, nine kills), Rylee Donaldson (eight digs, one block, two kills), Breonna Parsons (eight digs, one ace) and Maleea Faulks (one dig, seven blocks, seven kills, three aces).
Weir ended its season at 9-20 with a young team.
"It was kind of a rebuilding season," said Weir head coach Fran Capaldi. "We lost a lot going into this season. We had a couple of big hitters graduate in the middle and right side, so it was kind of hard and we were trying to fill those shoes.
"We had a freshman, two sophomores, three juniors and three seniors, so we're excited for next year."