Fort Gay, W. Va. — After starting the Region 4 Section 2 with two wins the Tolsia volleyball team fell to #1 seed Buffalo 3-1 on Tuesday at Rebel Arena
Tolsia team members going over strategy before they play Sherman Monday.
In the first set against Buffalo the Rebels led 12-7 before the top seeded Bison stormed back to take set one 25-18.
In the second set Tolsia once again jumped out to a lead and this time held on for the 25-23 victory.
In set three Buffalo led from start to finish in a 25-14 victory to take a 2-1 lead.
In the fourth set it was back and forth before Buffalo took control late to take the set 25-21 and the match 3-1.
#3 seed Tolsia opened up the Region 4 Section 2 tournament with a 3-0 victory over #6 Huntington St. Joe. on Monday night.
25-15 first set over St. Joe
Tolsia 25-6 second set over St. Joe
Tolsia 25-7 third set over St. Joe
Ella Hatfield serving against Sherman Monday night.
In the second game of the night #2 Sherman fell behind 2 sets to none before rallying for a 3-2 victory including a 16-14 win in the fifth and decisive set over #7 Man who only has 6 players on its roster.
In the final game of the night Tolsia swept Sherman 3-0 to advance to the winners bracket championship against #1 Buffalo at 7:00 tonight at Rebel Arena.
In the first set it was all Tolsia as the Rebels led from start to finish in a 25-10 victory.
In the second set things got a little tighter as Tolsia won 25-19.
Freshman Kyleigh Justice was outstanding against St. Joe and Sherman on Monday night.
In the third and final set things couldn’t get much tighter as Tolsia closed out the match with a 25-23 victory after a furious rally from the Tide.
In the video below Senior Erin Sturgill seals the victory with a kill.
In other tournament action from Crum Pre K-8 on Monday night.
#4 Tug Valley beat #5 Van in the first game.
#1 Buffalo beat #4 Tug Valley in the second game.
#7 Man beat #6 Huntington St. Joe in the final game.
Man eliminated Tug Valley in the first game Tuesday at Tolsia.
In games at Crum on Tuesday night
Sherman ousted Van and Man to stay alive in the double elimination tournament.
Only three teams remain alive heading into the Wednesday night.
Sherman vs Tolsia at 5:30 with the winner facing Buffalo at 7:00 for the Championship. Whoever wins the 5:30 game has to beat Buffalo twice.
Top two teams will advance to the Region tournament on Saturday at Buffalo.
Tolsia Head Coach Andrea Prince
COACH’S COMMENTS
“…It is a clear advantage to host the sectional tournament. To my knowledge this is the first year we’ve ever hosted the tournament at Tolsia, typically we make the hour and twenty plus minute drive to Buffalo for three nights straight to compete until late into the night. It was a welcome change to finish up at 10:30pm last night and be on our home court. It is an advantage that all the teams should have in turn.”
“… The team really played consistently last night and communicated well, they made the most of their home court advantage, sweeping both St. Joe to open the night and finishing the evening strong with a sweep against Sherman.”
“…Over the last six years we have become a team with a reputation for strong middle hitting, and while we have maintained that ability, this year we are more versatile with equal potential at the outside hitting position. Sherman worked to disrupt our typical middle heavy set up, challenging us to use our outside hitting options more often, and outside hitters Kyleigh Justice and Autumn Block rose to that challenge delivering point after point with powerhouse swings. We had a solid opening night and look forward to the next two nights of competition.”