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By KIM NORTH
Staff Writer
WELLSBURG -- Wheeling Park came up a win short of qualifying for the W.Va. Class AAA state volleyball tournament next week inside the Charleston Civic Center Coliseum.
The Patriots (19-12-1), the Region I, Section I runner up, fell to Region I, Section II kingpin Bridgeport (40-8-7) in four sets Saturday morning during the Region I semifinals at Brooke High School. The scores were 25-14, 18-25, 25-13 and 25-21.
"I thought the girls fought really hard. I was happy with the effort we gave," Wheeling Park head coach Samantha Gentle said. "We executed our game plan the best we could, so I'm really proud of the effort and the way we fought until the very end.
"Unfortunately, we didn't come out with a win."
The Indians led 8-6 early on before running off the next six points for a 14-6 margin. They extended the lead to 10 (19-9) before a late 6-3 run sealed the deal.
Following three early ties, Wheeling Park took a 5-4 lead it would not relinquish in winning the second set. Holding a 20-17 lead, the Patriots five of the final six points to even the match.
Bridgeport broke open a close third set by reeling off six points to make a 7-6 score a 13-6 reading. The momentum continued as the Indians went on a 8-1 spurt to increase the margin to 22-9.
The teams were deadlocked at 9 but Bridgeport rattled off five straight points for a 14-9 lead. Wheeling Park crept to as close as 17-16, but a 5-1 rally allowed the Indians to pull away.
The Patriots had one last run in them, but couldn't get over the hump.
The Patriots were led by Jillian Huffman with 23 assists and 11 digs. Lily Brinke added 13 kills and a like number of digs, while Faith Randolph had five kills and half-a-dozen digs. Abby Heilman charted five kills and six blocks which gave her more than 100 on the season. Delaney Randolph finished with four kills and Lexi Irwin had 14 digs.
In the other semifinal, Morgantown swept cross-town rival University. Both Bridgeport and Morgantown advance to the state tournament.