By David Rogers. BOONE, N.C. — In falling behind 7-0 in the first set of the Watauga Middle School Volleyball Tournament championship final, you had to wonder if No. 2 seeded Hardin Park had brought their “A” game in facing No. 1 seeded Parkway on Oct. 19. The Golden Eagles gradually battled back, losing the set, but then prevailed to take the second and third sets for a 2-1 win (12-25, 25-18, 15-9) over the Patriots.
FULL TOURNAMENT SCORES AND BONUS PHOTOS at bottom of article (click any image for Slide Show Mode)
“It has been our ‘M.O.’ all season,” said Hardin Park head coach Andy Eggers afterwards. “We seem to be a slow starting team but a good finishing team. I told the girls after the first set that they couldn’t do anything about changing that result, so they simply had to focus on the next one. They did just that.”
Outside hitter and middle blocker Adeline Tate enjoyed a couple of constructive visits to the service line for Hardin Park and was pleased about her team’s performance.
“I think we did really good, but so did Parkway, too. It was a tough game. I am really glad we got to play this tournament. With the hurricane and school being out, I thought our season was going to be over,” said Tate.
As evenly matched as the teams were this season, it was fitting that Parkway won the regular season championship and Hardin Park was able to claim the tournament championship. Parkway head coach Susan Hemric echoed everyone’s thoughts in how special it was to be able to play the tournament.
“We were so excited about playing this tournament,” said Hemric. “Win or lose, it was a great way to get the girls back together, to be a community. That was a true championship game. Both teams played to their potential. Today, Hardin Park made fewer errors.”
Eggers, who doubles as the middle school athletics coordinator for Watauga County Schools, said it was important to get the tournament in after the hurricane.
“We wanted to give all the teams and opportunity to close out their seasons as normal as possible. A lot of these girls have gone through a lot of stuff because of the storm damage but they pulled together and decided they wanted to have this tournament. It is a good thing for the student athletes as well as for the community, to take some steps back to normalcy.”
Eggers indicated that classes are due to come back in the school district on Thursday, Oct. 24, ending the holdup because of school buses inability to operate.
“I think they are going to have community stops rather than the more door-to-door schedules run previously. There will probably be a lot more students dropped off in the car lines at the individual schools,” said Eggers.
FULL TOURNAMENT SCORES
Round 1
- No. 1 Parkway – bye
- No. 4 Cove Creek def. No. 5 Blowing Rock, 2-0 (25-21, 25-22)
- No. 3 Green Valley def. No. 6 Mabel, 2-0 (25-10, 25-20)
- No. 2 Hardin Park def. No. 7 Valle Crucis, 2-0 (25-5, 25-6)
SEMIFINALS
- No. 1 Parkway def. No. 4 Cove Creek, 2-0 (25-5, 25-21)
- No. 2 Hardin Park def. No. 3 green Valley, 2-0 (25-10, 25-10)
CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL
- No. 2 Hardin Park def. No. 1 Parkway, 2-1 (12-25, 25-18, 15-9)
BONUS PHOTOS
