Summer Sword
Morgan Church
It’s going to be a good Labor Day weekend for members of the Man High School girls’ volleyball team.
That’s because the Lady Billies won the Logan County championship after topping both Logan and Chapmanville at Thursday night’s season-opening Logan County tri-match at Logan High School’s Willie Akers Arena.
It was a first for Man, which had never won the county tri-match title under head coach Orlando Washington.
The Lady Billies toppled Logan 25-15, 25-19 in the first match, then came back to defeat Chapmanville Regional 25-19, 25-18. Chapmanville, which had dominated the Logan County tri-match event in recent years, then downed Logan in the third and final match of the night.
The 2-0 start is just what Coach Washington wanted to see.
“It’s the first time that I had the pleasure of winning the Logan County tri-match,” Washington said. “All the girls are pretty happy. Summer Sword played well and Morgan Church played well. Summer Combs and Micah McCoy served the ball really well.”
Man is hoping to turn around its volleyball program.
The Lady Billies haven’t had much luck in recent years even though Man was the first county school to have a WVSSAC program in the 1990s and were very successful, particularly early on. Chapmanville and Logan followed in the early 2000s.
The Man volleyball program hit its zenith in 2000 when the Lady Billies were 33-8 and made it to the Class AA regionals under former coach Bill Toler and assistant Missy McCoy.
Coach Washington said he hopes Thursday night’s fast start is a sign of better things to come.
“In general, it was a good start for us. Our girls are happy. We spent three weeks practicing hard to get ready for the season,” he said.
The Lady Billies are scheduled to have their home opener on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in a tri-match against River View and new Class A sectional rival Tug Valley. The Lady Billies then go to Wyoming East on Thursday and play at Mingo Central on Sept. 10 in a pair of 6 p.m. matches.
Class AAA Logan is coached by first-year mentor Chelesy Stockdale. She replaced Alice Hensley as the Lady Cats’ coach and became Logan’s fifth-ever volleyball coach behind Kevin Bates, Tim Cunningham, Ernistine Conn and Hensley.
Logan is scheduled to play at Sissonville on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. and go to Lincoln County on Thursday.
Logan’s next eight home matches are on the road. The Lady Cats aren’t scheduled to return home until Oct. 2 against Mingo Central.
Class AA Chapmanville Regional, coached by Angie Willis, play its first seven matches on the road. The Lady Tigers are at Scott on Tuesday at 6 p.m. and then play on Thursday at Poca in a Cardinal Conference match.
Chapmanville has its home opener on Sept. 25 against Herbert Hoover.
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