Weir volleyball team holds off Madonna rally, wins city championship
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WEIRTON -- The Weir volleyball team saved a match point, and the Red Riders not only staved off defeat, but Weir went on to win the match.
Leading 2-1 in the match and 25-24 in the fourth game, the Blue Dons were on the verge of regaining the city championship trophy from the rival Red Riders, however, the Weir girls managed to stay alive in the game and won the final three points to even the match at 2-2. Weir then built a 12-6 advantage in the fifth and final game before holding off a late Madonna rally to win the game and the match, 25-15, 21-25, 21-25, 27-25, 15-13, to sweep the season series.
It's also a win in the city championship for the third straight season on Senior Night Tuesday on Ron "Fritz" Williams Court inside the Carl Hamill Fieldhouse.
"Winning the city championship was one of our goals this season," Weir (5-12) head coach Fran Capaldi said. "We are able to keep the trophy. This gives us good, high energy going into the sectionals Saturday. It was a high-intensity match. That is good for what we have coming up. This means a lot. We needed it."
Madonna has been playing well as of late, but the Blue Dons failed to capitalize when it counted the most against their city rivals.
"It is disappointing," Madonna (9-11) head coach Theresa Moore said. "It is very disappointing that we didn't finish. We played well up until the end of the fourth set. We lost our momentum. We just couldn't finish."
Trailing 2-1 in the match, the Red Riders found themselves one point away of forcing a deciding Game 5, however, the Blue Dons scored the next point to save the set point and even the score at 24-all. Madonna also scored the next point to put the Blue Dons on the verge of victory, but the Red Riders were able to stave off elimination as they came back to win the game by two and force a fifth game.
"We found a way," Capaldi said. "That was the turning factor. We were going to either lose or force a fifth set."
Weir built a 4-0 advantage in the fifth game forcing Moore to call a timeout. The Blue Dons responded and scored the next three points resulting in Capaldi calling a timeout. The hosts regrouped following the timeout as they scored the next four points to take an 8-3 lead. Moore called another timeout with her team down, 10-5. Once again, the visitors rallied, and they pulled within 12-10 forcing Capaldi to call her second timeout of the game.
Weir scored the next two points after the timeout putting the Red Riders on the cusp of victory, however, the Blue Dons did not go away quietly. Madonna scored the next three points -- one following a last-ditch dive by Anna Backel to keep the ball and the match alive. In the end, a cross-court hit bounced on the inside of the line giving the Red Riders the thrilling victory.
"That was amazing," Moore said about Backel's dive. "She did a great job."
Individually for Weir, Mea Kaufman finished with 36 assists, 15 digs, three kills and four aces, Mallory Rosnick recorded 16 digs, one block, 19 kills and two aces and Ziona Barnes ended up with three digs, one block and 17 kills. Also, Janai Turner contributed three assists, 37 digs and three aces, Rylee Donaldson delivered two digs, one block and two aces and Lydia Mascio added one dig, one block and one ace. Finally, Baylei Mills tallied two blocks and three kills, and Bre Parsons produced 14 digs and two aces.
"You play to win," Capaldi said. "This being for the city championship adds more intensity to the match. It is a rivalry match. It is Senior Night. The match is for the city championship. There was a lot of pressure on our girls, and they rose to the occasion."
For Madonna, Brianna Glosser recorded 20 kills, Bella DiPietrantonio tallied 18 kills and Backel collected 37 digs. Also, Morgan Owens ended up with 37 digs.
"We are a much better team than we were the first time we played them," Moore said. "We are better players. We are better on offense. We are a much better team."
The Red Riders swept the Blue Dons in the two team's first match of the season back on Sept. 14.
"Give Madonna credit," Capaldi said. "They capitalized on our tip coverage. We are not very good at tip coverage. They were able to capitalize on that, and it took us awhile to adjust. They saw some holes, and they played to those holes well."
The Red Riders came out and played well in Game 1 as Weir opened the match with a 10-point victory to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Madonna was down, but the Blue Dons were far from out as the girls in blue rallied and won the next two games to take a 2-1 lead.
"We started to focus more on our mistakes," Capaldi said. "We let their momentum get to us. We did not fix our mistakes. We were not as focused as we were in the first set."
Weir honored its three seniors -- Mills, Rosnick and Barnes -- before the match.
"They have meant a lot to the program," Capaldi, who is in her second season as head coach of the Red Riders, said. "All three started and played for me last year. I have watched each one of them grow, and each one has become a better leader. Hopefully, they are able to turn the switch as we move past this match and into the postseason and hopefully past sectionals."
Madonna is scheduled to play Trinity Thursday night at home. The JV match is slated to start at 5:30 p.m. The match against the Warriors is the Blue Dons' final one of the regular season.
The City Championship match was Weir's final one of the regular season.
Weir -- the No. 2 seed -- is scheduled to play No. 3 seed East Fairmont at 10 a.m. Saturday on the road in the West Virginia Class AA Region 1 Section 1 Tournament. Also, North Marion will play Fairmont Senior, while Oak Glen -- the No. 1 seed -- gets a bye. The tournament is double elimination.