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Williamsport girls volleyball earns 3-0 win against Hughesville at Magic Dome

By GARRETT CARR 4 min read

Williamsport needed to get through Tuesday's home match against Hughesville with a win to cap off its hardest and most taxing stretch of the season on a positive note. The Millionaires have played a packed schedule in the past ten days, including grueling matches against two of the area's best teams in Central Mountain and Wellsboro, and a day-long tournament on Saturday at St. Francis University.

After Monday's five-set win against Wellsboro, coach Patti Jones knew her team was dragging and needed to find a way to win on Tuesday night. That's exactly what they did, beating the visiting Spartans 3-0 (25-17, 25-14, 25-19).

"Not going to lie, they were definitely exhausted. We had quite a few hitters who were just tired. The plan was to rotate some other people in to take a little load off their legs. They'll be in the training room tomorrow taking some ice baths and just getting themselves well again," Jones said. "But I thought they played well, just a little slower than normal. It's been a rough week. We also had a tournament on Saturday, so they've had a lot of hits and a lot of serves, and they've been doing really well. It's just that back-to-back matches are harsh."

Williamsport showed few signs of fatigue in the early part of all three sets, jumping out to quick leads each time. Ava Fischer's crosscourt kill gave them a 12-4 lead in the first set. Hughesville worked its way back into the set and got as close as 18-13 on a kill by Lyla Kinney. But the Millionaires were able to regroup and won the set on an ace by Mollie Roan, 25-17.

Roan led all players in service points with 22.

It was more of the same in the second set and Roan picked up where she finished off in the first set at the service line. Her serving run of seven consecutive points, capped off by another ace, gave Williamsport a lead they would not relinquish. Hughesville fought back once again, and cut the deficit to 16-11 on a terrific crosscourt shot by Alice Hopkins. But Williamsport won nine of the next twelve points to win the set, 25-14.

Hughesville made the Millionaires sweat in the third set. The Spartans trailed 14-10 midway through the set. An 8-3 run gave it the lead, tying the set on a perfectly-placed backcourt shot by Elizabeth Papanau and taking an 18-17 lead on a Williamsport error one point later.

Williamsport sophomore middle blocker E'gypt Ringkamp made her presence known down the stretch. The 6-foot, 2-inch Ringkamp had stuff blocks on back-to-back points to make it 22-19 Williamsport, and had a kill two points later to make it 24-19 as the Millionaires closed out the match.

"She's really turned it on the last couple weeks here, I have a lot of talent at middle. I have a lot of talent in our hitting group in general, But, she is definitely turning it up quite a bit, and it shows. She's been putting in some hard work, and that's fantastic for our team," Jones said.

Both team's records now sit at 6-2.

Papapanu had 10 kills for the Spartans and Alice Hopkins had five. Anna Easton had 14 digs and two aces, and Kierra Sheets had an ace with 10 digs. Ella Mowrey had a team-high 11 assists for the Spartans and Davanee Hoover had nine.

Ava Fischer led Williamsport with 14 kills and Ringkamp had nine. Mollie Roan had 22 points and Peyton Dincher had 10 for the Millionaires. Dincher also had 14 assists and Libby Radspinner had 10. Ellie Kinley led Williamsport with 16 digs and Mollie Roan had 15.

Williamsport 3, Hughesville 0

(25-17, 25-14, 25-19)

Hughesville kills: Elizabeth Papapanu 10, Alice Hopkins 5. Hughesville services points/aces: Anna Easton 2 aces, Kierra Sheets 1 ace. Hughesville assists: Ella Mowrey 11, Davanee Hoover 9. Hughesville digs: Anna Easton 14, Kierra Sheets 10

Williamsport kills: Ava Fischer 14, E'gypt Ringkamp 9. Williamsprot service points: Mollie Roan 22, Peyton Dincher 10. Williamsport assists: Peyton Dincher 14, Libby Radspinner 10. Williamsport digs: Ellie Kinley 16, Mollie Roan 15

Starting at /week.