Published: November 03, 2009 11:00 pm      

Riding onward

Mavericks roll over PikeView

GARDNER — Five seniors departed off last year’s Class AA state runner-up squad, but the James Monroe Mavericks can still volley with the best.

Juniors Jade McDaniel and Karsyn Boothe combined for 24 kills, and the Lady Mavericks defeated PikeView 25-14, 26-24, 25-17 in the Region III, Section 2 tournament held on Tuesday at PikeView High School.

James Monroe (15-18-1) later played the winner of PikeView and Wyoming East in the finals. The Panthers led the Warriors 2 games to 1 late on Tuesday night.

Both James Monroe and the PikeView-Wyoming East winner will play in the Region III tournament on Saturday at Summers County High School in Hinton.

The top seed in the five-team tournament, the Mavericks were led in the opening match of the second day of the sectionals against PikeView by McDaniel, who had 18 kills, and Boothe, who added six kills and three digs.

Sophomore Melissa Johnston added four kills and four service points, while senior Morgan Wickline served six aces.

DeRonda McDaniel, who led the Mavericks to the state finals last season, still has her club a few games from a possible return trip to Charleston. The top two teams in Saturday’s regionals will advance to state competition.

“I lost five seniors and they all five started so we had to pretty much rebuild our team,” McDaniel said. “We’ve got two seniors that start and they didn’t really play a whole lot last year. We had to pretty start over I guess you could say.”

That didn’t bother the Mavericks in this match, as James Monroe took a 1-0 lead and then rallied past the Panthers in the second game to take a commanding two match to none lead.

“We’re up and down, just like any team is,” McDaniel said. “We’re young, one of our setters (Jordan Mann) is a senior, and one of our setters (Jenna Hancock) is a freshman.”

PikeView was led by Amber Dickerson with four kills, three aces and two digs, while Kimmie Thomas added nine kills, three aces and a pair of blocks.

Jordan Conner (3 kills), Laiken Johnson (3 blocks) and Julie Lombardo (3 aces) also contributed for the Panthers. Kayla Hill dished out seven assists.

"They’re a really solid team, you can’t give them no points, and you can’t make any errors,” PikeView coach Steve Compton said. “We can play with them if we limit our errors. They are really good and really solid team.”

The Panthers, which could qualify for the second seed in the regionals with a win over the Warriors, had defeated Wyoming East on Monday night after losing to them three times during the regular season.

PikeView led through three games by Thomas (4 kills, 4 aces), Dickerson (5 kills 5 aces) and Danielle Compton (3 kills). They won the first two games 25-16 and 25-21, but the Warriors forced a fourth game with a 25-16 decision in the third, led by Selina Simmons, Desirea Smith and Destiny Duncan.

In an earlier game played on an adjacent court to the James Monroe and PikeView contest, Bluefield saw its season come to an end, dropping a five-game marathon to Wyoming East 25-21, 23-25, 25-18, 22-25, 15-7.

“I’m really proud of our girls this year. We’re just happy to be here and be competitive and come out and fighting hard. I’m just really, really proud of the girls,” Bluefield coach Mariette Maldonado said.

The Beavers were led by senior Shawanda Hunt, and juniors Arrin Carter, Alicia Grant and Claire Litton. That quartet led Bluefield to 14 wins this season, a nine-game turnaround from last year’s five-win campaign.

“We came in from having a season last year of having five wins and this year over doubling that and that just makes me really proud of the girls and what they accomplished,” Maldonado said.

“That is a big turnaround from last year.

“They get discouraged, but I tell them they need to look at improvement over the years and I know that is hard for our senior, who is leaving, but for the upcoming juniors, sophomores and freshmen, hopefully next year will an even better season.”

Note: Wyoming East completed the comeback in the elimination contest against PikeView, defeating the Panthers 16-25, 21-25, 25-16, 25-18, 19-17 in the final match on Tuesday.

Trailing 14-9 in the final game, the Warriors rallied to tie the score at 14-14, and then survived a furious rally at the end, with Desirea Smith smashing a shot off of PikeView's Kimmie Thomas for the final point of the match.

PikeView was led in their season-ending match by Thomas (8 kills, 3 aces, 2 blocks), Amber Dickerson (4 kills, 3 aces, 2 digs), Kayla Hill (7 assists), Julie Lombardo (3 aces), Jordan Conner (3 kills, 2 blocks) and Laiken Johnson (3 blocks).

The championship match, which had been slated to be played on Tuesday, will now be played tonight at PikeView between James Monroe and Wyoming East. First serve is slated for 6 p.m.

-Contact Brian Woodson

at bwoodson@bdtonline.com