Saturday, November 21, 2009
Volleyball: Bath conquers nerves, Mathews
The Chargers drop the first match but shake off their anxiety to advance to the final.
varsity.roanoke.com
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RICHMOND -- His Bath County volleyball team wasn't scheduled to play its Group A state semifinal against Mathews for a couple more hours, but Chargers coach Dave McGee already knew nerves were going to be an issue.
He could see it on his players' faces when they walked into Virginia Commonwealth University's spacious 7,500-seat Siegel Center on Friday, their wide-eyed expressions betraying the butterflies that were doing backflips in their stomachs.
"It reminded me of 'Hoosiers,' " McGee said, noting the scene when Gene Hackman's underdog Hickory basketball squad got its first look at legendary Hinkle Fieldhouse prior to a state tournament game against powerhouse South Bend Central.
"I knew what was going to happen. I knew we weren't going to win the first game, not because of what Mathews did, but because it was going to take us some time to figure things out."
Secure in that knowledge, McGee didn't panic when Bath County made several uncharacteristic miscues and dropped the opening game by a 25-22 margin. He didn't burn a timeout when Mathews raced out to a 5-1 lead in the second game. Once the Chargers shook off their anxiety, they no longer looked like a group of girls making the first state tournament appearance in school history.
Led by 28 kills from senior Hillary Jessee, Bath County rolled to a 22-25, 25-19, 25-7, 25-14 victory and will face defending Group A champion Gate City in the state final today at 9:30 a.m.
"All season it seemed like we were going somewhere, but it never felt real," said senior Carey Trimble, who finished with 17 kills as Bath County improved to 25-1. "When we walked in here today, we were looking around and my dad said 'Enjoy every bit of this. Your team might get back here, but you're a senior.' "
The Chargers never looked back after breaking a 12-all deadlock in the second game with four consecutive points. Fueled by Jessee's dominance at the net, they scored the first six points of the third game and stifled Mathews' attack by keeping the Blue Devils (21-2) on the defensive.
By the start of the fourth game, Mathews coach Pat Moughon said her players were the ones with the "deer in headlights" look on their faces.
"In our district and region, we don't play that kind of ball," she added. "We've only been to five games once this season. Our best competition is when we scrimmage at practice."
Bath County's players are much more battle-tested. The Chargers proved their mettle earlier this season when they won two of three matches against Group AAA competition in a Richmond showcase tournament, then cleared an even bigger psychological hurdle by beating Auburn in the Region C semifinals.
Still, McGee is happy to keep the underdog role against Gate City, a team that has played in the last five Group A finals.
"I don't like being the favorite because you have more to lose," he said. "When you're the underdog, you have everything to gain."
