Falcons sweep Warhawks in postseason opener

PARKERSBURG – The Aplington-Parkersburg volleyball team has struggled with maintaining early momentum this season.

 

In Tuesday's postseason opener against West Fork, the Falcons found the focus they needed to surge to a second-set comeback, leading to a straight-set sweep of the Warhawks in Class 2A regional play.

 

A-P (9-19) won 25-18, 25-22, 25-17 for the Falcons' first win in a postseason opener since 2012. The Falcons play 2A No. 6 Dike-New Hartford in Dike on Monday.

 

Kasidy Mohwinkle led the A-P attack with 14 kills and added 23 digs. Jenna Bruns added 10 kills with 20 digs.

 

The teams were evenly matched for most of the night, with several long rallies testing both teams' back-row fortitude.

 

With the score 15-13 in A-P's favor in the first set, the Falcons broke away with an 8-2 run and beat back a couple of challenges on set point to take the early 1-0 lead in the match.

 

The Warhawks fired back in the second set, building an early 10-5 lead and forcing an A-P timeout.

 

"It's always been our hurdle to get past the second and third games this season," A-P head coach Erin Huddleson said. "I called timeout and told the girls that they had nothing to lose, that they had to fight back."

 

West Fork pushed its second-set lead to 19-13 before A-P rallied for a 9-0 run, including two aces from A-P's Avari Everts, to put the Warhawks on their heels.

 

"We definitely picked up our energy," Mohwinkle said. "We were moving our feet, getting the balls up. … We didn't have many wins during the season, but we really wanted this game and we fought hard."

 

West Fork tied it at 22-all on a Morgan Meier kill and Rachael Jones, but back-to-back kills from Bruns set up a set-winning blast from Lauren Olson to give A-P the commanding lead.

 

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A-P won the first set against Dike-New Hartford on Sept. 20 before the Wolverines rallied for a four-set win in a match held at a Hudson triangular.

 

"We've played Dike before and they've beaten us, but we have nothing to lose now," Huddleson said. "D-NH is the top team above us and for our program, anything goes right now."

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