Red Riders sweep past Madonna to retain city championship
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WEIRTON -- The Weir volleyball team took care of business against city rival Madonna.
The Red Riders delivered a strong outing en route to sweeping the Blue Dons, 25-9, 25-16, 25-8, in a varsity only match in the annual City Championship Game Tuesday evening on Ron "Fritz" Williams Court inside the Carl Hamill Fieldhouse.
"One of our goals is to always to win the city championship," Weir (16-10) head coach Fran Capaldi said. "It is an expectation for us. It is something we should win. We have had a great season. Winning the city championship is very important to us. It is something that should come easy for us."
The visitors had a hard time keeping momentum on their side in the match.
"It was a mental game for us," first-year Madonna (10-11) head coach Jaedyn Hissam said. "Obviously, I am trying to build a program. We are not use to high=pressure situations and performing in high-pressure environments. We were not mentally prepared."
On top of winning the city championship, Weir senior standout reached milestone as she recorded the 2,000th dig of her career.
"People probably saw me fidgeting in my shoes over here," Capaldi said. "I wanted her to get that tonight. There's not a better night to get it than the night of the city championship. I am really proud of her.
"She's a leader. She comes to the gym and always gives 110 percent. She helps her teammates get better."
Individually for the Red-and-Black, Amalia Kirlangitis tallied 14 assists, five digs and one ace, Marissa Mascio contributed one assist, 10 digs and four kills and Brayley Lash recorded two assists, three digs, five aces, five kills and one block. Also, Addison Duffy added two blocks and one kill, Maleea Fultz finished with three aces, five digs, one ace and nine kills and Turner delivered one assists and 25 digs. Finally, Elle Mayley collected three blocks and Kylie Dean ended up with three assists and one ace.
"Not really," Hissam said asked if Weir did anything different or out of the norm. "Tonight was about our mental preparation. You can talk about 100 times, but it is a lot different in high-energy situations and a rivalry game."
For Madonna, Maddi Owens delivered three kills, nine digs and one ace, Rylee Birkhimer recorded one kill and 10 digs and Hannah Dalfol finished with one dog and one ace. Also, Jules Tomshack collected one dig and one block, Chloe Orecchio tallied eight digs and Geena Birkhimer picked up four blocks. Finally, Sophie Brady delivered three assists, and Abigail Boyd added three kills.
"I did not know what to expect," Capaldi said. "She is a great coach. She is doing a great job. They are definitely making progress.
"This year, we went down from two games to one. We only played them once this year. That first game is nice because it's like a practice game. You can plan different things, and you can get better.
"I saw them on film, and they had great serve receive, and they played great defense. They have definitely improved."
The girls in white got off to a fast start in the first game, however, the victors rallied to take a 9-4 lead forcing Hissam to call a timeout. The victors extended their advantage following the timeout as they built a 17-6 advantage resulting in Hissam calling another timeout. The Blue Dons were unable to turn the tide as the Red Riders went to win the game by 16 points to take a 1-0 lead in the match.
Weir raced out to a 10-4 lead in Game 2, however, Madonna refused to go away quietly as the Blue Dons battled back to within 11-9. The Red Riders were able to regroup, and the girls in red increased their advantage to 19-11 forcing Hissam to call a timeout. Weir went on to win the game by nine points to take a 2-0 lead.
The hosts took a 4-1 lead early in the third game, and Hissam called a timeout with her team trailing, 7-2. Madonna fought back and pulled to within 7-5, but that is as close as it would get the rest of the way. The hosts scored the next seven points to go up 14-5, and they later extended their lead to 24-6. The Red Riders won the game by 17 points to win the match, 3-0.
Weir is scheduled to play John Marshall Thursday night on the road.
"Up to this point, the season has gone really well," Capaldi said. "We have had some challenging games. We have won some games we were supposed to win. We dropped some games we were expected to win, but it is OK. We just want to prepare for the postseason."
The match was the last regular season match of the season for Madonna. The Blue Dons will return to the court in West Virginia Class A sectional play at Clay-Battelle.
"We have come a tremendous amount this season," Hissam said. "At the beginning of the match, we got off to a great start, but we could not overcome our mistakes.
"We have definitely come a long way this season, that's for sure. My goal coming in was to win 10 games. We have won 10 games, and now we want to build on that."
The Red Riders are the No. 1 seed in its sectional tournament, and Weir will play the winner of the match between Brooke and North Marion at 6 p.m. Oct. 29 at North Marion.