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Bath Edges Blues In Battle For Third Place
The Parry McCluer High School volleyball team finished fourth in the Pioneer District tournament after losing a five-set nailbiter to Bath County in the third-place match in Elliston on Thursday evening.
Earlier in the week, the third-seeded Fighting Blues (13-12) swept their quarterfinal matchup against No. 6 seed Highland County at home and lost 3-1 at No. 2 seed Narrows in the semifinals. PM was slated to travel to Giles, the No. 1 seed from the Mountain Empire District, in the Region 1C quarterfinals on Monday. (See separate story.)
On Monday of last week, the Blues served their way past Highland (7-14) to claim a 2512, 25-13, 25-18 victory in the quarterfinal round of the Pioneer tournament. PM dialed up 24 aces in the three-set affair, paced by seven from Allie Cullen and six from Presley Camden. The Blues also got five aces from Josie Martinez, three from Kadence Zollman and a pair from Emory Slagle.
“Serving is the first thing we have control over in a game – and one of the only things we can truly control,” PM head coach Jilane Hall said. “And I think we served great tonight. It really helped us stay in control and put the pressure on them.”
Zollman paced the Blues’ offense with eight kills while collecting 10 digs, and Slagle totaled six kills. Cullen posted 12 digs, Martinez had four kills and nine digs, and Jorja Catlett added 13 assists and three kills.
Brooke Williams totaled three kills and two blocks for the Rams. Eleanor White had four aces for Highland, while Makynley Smith and Amelia Good served up two aces apiece.
Narrows 3, PM 1
Narrows claimed a 3-1 home victory over PM in the Pioneer semifinals on Tuesday of last week.
After the schools had split their regular-season series, with each side winning at home, the Green Wave (12-8) claimed the rubber match with a 25-19, 25-22, 23-25, 25-21 triumph. Narrows would then fall 3-2 to top seed Eastern Montgomery (18-4) in the district championship match in Elliston on Thursday.
Last Tuesday, Slagle led the Blues’ offense with 14 kills, and Catlett piled up 34 aces along with a solo block. Zollman finished with seven kills, four blocks, 22 digs and two aces, and Martinez tallied six kills and 16 digs. Cullen contributed 25 digs and five aces, Camden had 17 digs, and Maddie Wade recorded three blocks.
But after serving lights-out against Highland on Monday, the Blues couldn’t overcome a string of errors behind the service line in the semifinals.
“It was a tough game against a formidable opponent,” Hall said. “They definitely had the upper hand on us that day.”
BC 3, PM 2
Two nights later, fourth-seeded Bath County secured a 3-2 win over PM in the third-place match, which was contested in the EM gym.
The Chargers (20-9) won the latest lengthy encounter with their district rivals by a 25-23, 26-28, 26-24, 24-26, 15-10 count.
Zollman racked up 17 kills and 20 digs to pace the Blues, and Catlett notched 39 assists and five blocks. Camden led the back line with 41 digs, and Cullen totaled 32. Slagle chipped in 10 kills and four blocks, while Martinez added four kills. PM also got five aces from Zollman, four from Catlett and three from Camden.
The Blues, whose travel down to Elliston was delayed, recovered from a slow start to stretch the match to five sets.
“Our warmup and our first handful of points were sluggish,” Hall said. “They fought back, and I’m really proud of us for keeping it close.”
Competitive games were the theme of the PM-Bath rivalry this fall, as Thursday’s match marked the fourth meeting of the season between the teams. The Chargers won 2-1 in an in-season tournament match at James River on Sept. 27 and 3-2 in Hot Springs on Oct. 13, while PM had claimed a 3-1 victory in Buena Vista just a week before the consolation match battle. “Every time we’ve played Bath this year has been a back-and-forth like that,” Hall said. “I’m really proud of us for just fighting and digging in. It definitely made it exciting to go five.”
ABOVE, PM head coach Jilane Hall talks to her players during a timeout. AT LEFT, Fighting Blue freshman setter Jorja Catlett dives for the ball. Catlett led PM with 13 assists and had three kills. (Ronnie Coffey photos)
