Wartburg and Coalfield Advance to Volleyball District Semifinals
By Terry Futrell – October 1, 2018
It wasn’t a good evening for faint of heart fans at either Wartburg or Coalfield as both teams had to use a 5th-set tiebreaker to win their matcesh and advance to the District 3A semifinals at Clarkrange on Tuesday. Four-seed Wartburg defeated five-seed Harriman, while three-seed Coalfield came from behind to defeat six-seed Clarkrange.
Wartburg used perfect serving to jump out to a 2-0 lead over visiting Harriman, coming from behind 2-10 to win the first set 25-19 and pulling ahead at the end of the second set to win 25-22. The stubborn Blue Devils refused to go down without a fight and tied the match by winning sets three and four 25-12 and 29-27. The 5th-set tiebreaker began with Wartburg’s Raelee Jones stepping up to serve. Though the smallest player on the court, Jones jumps like a gazelle and has a wicked spike. Raelee calmly served the Lady Bulldogs to nine consecutive points, including two service aces, and Wartburg led 9-0 before Harriman could get a service break. The Lady Bulldogs then matched Harriman point for point and won the tie-breaker 15-5. Key to the Wartburg victory was improved serving – the Lady Bulldogs were perfect in serving in three of the five sets and committed only a total of four service errors in the other two sets.
There was much joy among the Wartburg players and coaches as they were struck by the realization that they move on to the District 3A semifinals to be played on Tuesday at Clarkrange. Head Coach Jessica Webb delighted the players and fans by doing celebratory cartwheels on the gym floor.
A few miles away in John Jackson Memorial Gymnasium, the Coalfield Lady Jackets had to come from behind to win their match against Clarkrange. Underdog Clarkrange took the first set from the Lady Jackets 26-24. Coalfield rebounded and won the second set 25-21. Things were a bit scary as Clarkrange took set 3 by a score of 25-18. Coalfield came charging back and led 19-11 in the fourth set, but Clarkrange had a scoring run of 10-2 to tie the set at 21-21. The Lady Jackets once again took the lead and won the set 25-23. Tension eased for the Lady Jackets as they pulled away to win the 5th-set tiebreaker 15-9.
Top-seeded Van Buren County defeated Oakdale and two-seed Bledsoe County defeated Monterey tonight – Wartburg will play Van Buren at 5:30 and Coalfield will play Bledsoe at 7:00 in the Clarkrange gymnasium on Tuesday. Note that games are being played in the Central Time Zone.
Congratulations to these young ladies who did a great job of representing all of Morgan County.
Coalfield’s Beth Summers (24) and Taylor Landrum (23) block a Clarkrange attack at the net. [Photo by Cathy Bird]