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Deep in the fifth game, Western Albemarle was on the ropes but they fought back, and, moments after trailing by a handful of points, the Warriors had a one-point advantage.
The Warriors had been at a similar junction before in this very same match, twice in two separate games. When Western failed to close out the third set, it put Lord Botetourt in great position to walk away with the win in the Region 3A West quarterfinals. Somehow, despite the follies of the first set, the third set, and the first portion of the fifth, Western had reached its moment, match point. And it slipped away again, allowing the Cavaliers to stay alive at 14-14.
“I was in the corner freaking out, pacing back and forth” said Warriors junior Olivia Nichols. “So nervous.”
But the Warriors didn’t fall victim to the error that gave Botetourt one last breath. Western kept forging ahead and got a second crack at that critical point, and this time it was different. There could not have been a more dramatic game for Western, nor a happier ending for a veteran team that’s pulled itself up from the boot straps after starting a massive rebuild three years ago. The Warriors’ blocking up front faced an assault from a talented and tall Botetourt squad, but with the season on the line, Nichols came up with the biggest block of her high school career, and Western managed to slip past its quarterfinal opponent, 3-2, (23-25, 27-25, 25-27, 25-19, 16-14)
“I was able to read the moment, see where they were going and I just wanted this so badly,” Nichols said. “Our right side was closed and we were able to read, react and finish. It was the best feeling in the entire world.”
At the end of the night, after all the tension, it was a delightful coaching moment for the Warriors as they simply muscled through a knock-down drag-out war that saw them on the ropes on multiple occasions. It was the first time this team was literally just one point away from packing it up and calling it a season.
“I was so proud of them because they battled the whole way,” said Western coach Ron Pack. “We were down and they didn’t give up and gave everything they had. I told them before the fifth set, ‘Do not leave this gym thinking you should have given just a little bit more. Give everything you’ve got and we’ll take the results.’… I think they gave me everything they had.”
After digging an early hole by dropping a tightly contested first set, the Warriors returned the favor by snagging the second. In those two games, the largest margin for either squad was three points. While Botetourt managed to edge Western 25-23 in the first with the game tied at 22, Western avoided a 2-0 deficit by digging out to come from behind at 25-24 to win 27-25 in the second set.
“We’ve played amazing teams like Albemarle that can swing balls like (Botetourt) did, but we weren’t quite ready for the way they got up and consistently got after out kills,” Nichols said. “They did an amazing job of picking up so many balls. We weren’t necessarily ready for them to send so many back over. When we were, we converted it back. I think we were able to get used to that and then drive back with a lot of force.”
The third set was no different from the previous two in many regards. The Cavaliers’ offense continued to rain down on the Western defense, and with the Warriors playing quite strong in that department, they were able to keep pace with their offense picking and choosing their spots.
“The defense has been key to this team all season,” Pack said. “When you play more defense you get more big swings. In all our games when we play defense, the next day in practice I show them the stats and we’ve got more (kills) than we do in the other matches. You play defense, you get to hit. It’s simple, it really is.”
With things knotted up at 21-21, the Warriors took a 24-21 lead. Until the dramatic fifth set, what happened in the third was the single biggest momentum swing of the match. The Cavaliers survived three straight set points and set up one of their own with a 4-0 run. Western managed to get past one, but couldn’t handle a second and the Cavaliers found a way to swipe the third game and take a 2-1 lead.
Things changed in the fourth set though. With the Warriors’ backs up against the wall, they came out and played their best set of the night. It started with an 11-6 lead, the largest margin of the match to that point. Then with her team up 12-7, Erin Farinia delivered five straight service points.
“We didn’t change anything (in the fourth set), do anything different,” Pack said. “We just executed. We stayed with what got us here and executed.”
Moments later, it was 19-8 for Western with the game well in hand. However, the Cavaliers fought back to make it 24-19 before Western could close it out at 25-19.
That momentum carried over into the fifth where the Botetourt claimed a 5-2 lead to force a Western timeout. Western trailed by as much at 10-6, but behind their defense, Courtney Berry and Nichols up front and some Cavaliers miscues, Western battled to a 5-1 run to tie the game at 11-11. The Warriors went up 14-13 and saw a long hit allow their visitors an extra chance. However, the second time around Nichols put the match away to keep Western’s season alive.
Five different Warriors finished in double-figures for digs. Kelsey Grove had 24 digs, Hannah Miles finished with 20, Colleen Forsman threw in 15 and Farina come up with 11. Grove led the Western attack with 15 kills.
“(Our libero) Miles was all over the place,” Pack said. “She has learned to stay back and read the hitters better. She stays back and covers a lot more court than she did last year. The last half of this season she’s just been phenomenal.”
Forsman’s return to the lineup was key as she battled illness for the bulk of the Warriors second half of the regular season. It allowed Nichols to return to her regular spot in the middle and provided Western added depth up front, especially on defense.
Berry finished with 12 kills and five blocks while Nichols had eight kills and four blocks of her own. Sienna Kellum had eight kills. Forsman had three blocks. Farina led the passing game with her 41 assists.
The Warriors will travel to Brookville today at 8 p.m. to face Cave Spring in the Region 3A West semifinals with a Group 3A tournament bid on the line.
