— For the first time in the program’s seven-year history, the Fayetteville High School volleyball team has advanced to the state tournament.

The three-classification state event will be contested Friday and Saturday, Nov. 9-10 at the Charleston Civic Center Coliseum.

The Pirate girls (18-12-2) will open Class A tournament play against Tyler Consolidated (39-4) at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, with the winner advancing to the semifinals at 6:30 p.m. Friday. The championship will be played on Saturday after the Class AA and AAA matches.

In its opening Region 3 tournament match at Meadow Bridge, Fayetteville played the six-year reigning Region 3 champ, Greater Beckley Christian, for a chance to face Sherman for the region title. The Pirates won 3-1, splitting the first two games then winning the next two to advance to the final. Scores were 25-19, 23-25, 27-25 and 25-15.

In the championship match, the Pirates fell 3-0 to the Tide. Both teams advanced to Charleston.

Against Sherman, Fayetteville statistics were as follows: Hannah Samples, 1 kill, 11 digs, 5/6 serves, 2 service points; Cassidy Bayes, 1 kill, 4 assists, 6 digs, 6/6 serves, 3 service points (1 ace); Jessica Brown, 4 kills, 3 blocks (3 points), 14 digs, 4/6 serves, 3 service points (1 ace); Cassie Semple, 2 kills, 1 block (1 point), 15 digs, 4/4 serves, 1 service point; Maddie Pritt, 1 kill, 1 assist, 8 digs, 7/8 serves, 5 service points (2 aces); Emily Akers, 1 kill, 5 digs, 5/7 serves, 4 service points; Kathryn Peelish, 6 digs, 1/3 serves; Malea Browning, 1 kill, 1 dig, 1/1 serves; Jenna Roark, 1 kill, 3 digs, 4/6 serves, 3 service points (1 ace); and Ashton McKinney, 1 dig, 1/1 serves.

Against Greater Beckley, FHS contributors were: Samples, 4 kills, 30 digs, 27/27 serves, 18 service points (5 aces); Bayes, 2 kills, 7 assists, 7 digs, 15/15 serves, 7 service points (1 ace); Brown, 7 kills, 3 blocks (2 points), 16 digs, 7/12 serves, 4 service points (1 ace); Semple, 7 kills, 2 blocks, 11 digs, 11/13 serves, 5 service points (2 aces); Pritt, 5 kills, 16 assists, 9 digs, 13/15 serves, 8 service points (1 ace); Akers, 6 kills, 18 digs, 13/14 serves, 6 service points (1 ace).

Fayetteville coach Amy White was unavailable for comment.

During this weekend’s tournament, special recognition will be given to George Washington’s Missy Smith as coach of the year and Tonya Kidder as official of the year.

     

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After being delayed by the major pre-Halloween snow storm, the section tournament was played at Valley High School on Friday, Nov. 2.

Fayetteville squared off with Greenbrier West in the first round, winning 25-18, 25-16 and 25-14 for a 3-0 count. Valley defeated Meadow Bridge in the next match.

For Fayetteville, contributions came from the following: Samples, 3 kills, 1 assist, 8 digs, 14/16 serves, 10 service points (5 aces); Bayes, 2 kills, 4 assists, 9/11 serves, 6 service points (1 ace); Brown, 11 kills, 1 block, 9 digs, 5/6 serves, 3 service points (1 ace); Semple, 9 kills, 1 block, 6 digs, 11/15 serves, 10 service points (6 aces); Pritt, 2 kills, 11 assists, 6 digs, 8/10 serves, 6 service points (2 aces); Akers, 4 digs, 13/15 serves, 11 service points (3 aces).

The Pirates then played Valley in the section championship. The Greyhounds jumped out to a 2-0 lead, winning the first two games, 25-19 and 25-20. Fayetteville rallied, though, claiming the next two games, 25-11 and 25-12, to force a fifth-set tiebreaker. Valley edged Fayetteville 15-11 to win the Region 3 Section 1 championship. Both teams advanced to region play.

Contributors for FHS were as follows: Samples, 3 kills, 1 assist, 27 digs, 24/24 serves, 14 service points (5 aces); Bayes, 2 kills, 5 assists, 6 digs, 14/15 serves, 7 service points (4 aces); Brown, 9 kills, 2 blocks (1 point), 21 digs, 5/8 serves, 3 service points (3 aces); Semple, 12 kills, 1 block (1 point), 9 digs, 18/21 serves, 13 service points (7 aces); Pritt, 4 kills, 17 assists, 9 digs, 13/15 serves, 10 service points (8 aces); Akers, 3 kills, 6 digs, 12/14 serves, 6 service points; and Browning, 2/2 serves (1 point).