In a game of one-upmanship, Nelson County saw what Bath County was doing, and wanted to show its opponent how to do it better.
“I feel like a lot of the players on the other team, they were trying to pinpoint us a lot,” said Governors junior Ashley Wells. “I think we felt like we could to the same thing. We hit their weaker players, hit the open spots and kept attacking.”
As they strayed away from hitting as many balls as they could near Region II player of the year, Governors libero Brittany Crawford, the Chargers tried to find the chinks in the Nelson armor. To return the favor, Nelson unloaded with outside hitters Erika Toliver and Wells, keeping Bath off guard to earn its first ever trip to the Group A Division 1 championship after dispatching its semifinal opponent, 3-1, 27-25, 25-12, 14-25, 25-15.
“In game one I knew we were going to be nervous,” said Governors coach Vicki Crawford. “I felt like that was the reason for that tightness, though I was really proud the way we stayed together and didn’t fold. “
After the first game needed extra points, the match had the feel that it would need five sets to determine a winner, but things changed and it was a see-saw day at the Siegel Center.
Nelson rode its momentum from the close to the first set by taking Bath to task in game two behind a 13-3 start. The Chargers made it a 7-point game not too far later, but in the homestretch, the Governors went on a 9-3 run to take the 2-0 lead.
Game three swung completely in the opposite direction. The Chargers won the first seven points of the set as Nelson’s defense struggled. A little more than midway through, Bath was up comfortably 16-5, and although the Governors came on slightly near the end, the Chargers had little trouble forcing a fourth game.
That final game didn’t start all too different from the previous set with Bath winning the first four points and holding onto its four point lead until Vicki Crawford called a timeout from the bench at 11-7. However, out of that timeout, the Governors went on a tear, switching things around and building a seven point lead on a 11-0 run.
“We just want this so bad,” said Brittany Crawford. “We have to keep wanting this like we’ve been talking about all season and I just think this is great. We knew that (this game) was our big opportunity to get here so we had to say ‘Settle down, guys. We got this. We’re way better than this.’”
For Bath, the change in tide was too much as the Governors, up 18-11, outscored their opponents 7-4 to wrap up a spot in the state final.
Wells finished with a well rounded 24-kill, 14-dig, 4-ace, 2-block day to lead the way for Nelson. Toliver was also busy on offense and defense, collecting 19 kills to go along with her eight digs.
“A lot of people key on Ashley and, when she gets to the back row, forget that we have Erika,” Vicki Crawford said. “Erika can pound the ball equally as hard. It’s been a real blessing to have both of them.”
Keona Loving had 39 assists in the match. Despite getting the silent treatment for much of the contest from the Bath offense, Crawford still amassed 20 digs. Splitting time in the middle, both Maria McGarry and Madison Carter took advantage of their height, picking up seven and five blocks collectively.
The Govenors (22-3) move on to the title game against Mathews who topped Dogwood District rival William Campbell on Tuesday before moving on Friday. This will be the first post season championship Nelson has been in all year that hasn’t involved Campbell.
