PREP VOLLEYBALL: Patrick Henry, Northwood win in Hogoheegee tourney

SALTVILLE, Va. – Earlier this fall, Patrick Henry High School sophomore Cadence Wilmoth spent six weeks in agony. On Tuesday night, she was pumped up and pain free.

Wilmoth slammed down 13 kills in her second match back from an ankle injury and helped fourth-seeded Patrick Henry shock top-seeded Chilhowie for a 26-24, 14-25, 25-21, 25-19 win in the semifinals
of the Hogoheegee District volleyball tournament at Northwood High School.

Patrick Henry (14-8) will play third-seeded Northwood (19-3) on Thursday night in the title match. The winner will earn a berth in the Region C tournament.

Chilhowie (18-3) had rolled through the regular season unbeaten en route to claiming the Hogoheegee’s regular-season title. Patrick Henry had lost twice to Chilhowie during the regular season, but the
Rebels outplayed and outhustled the Warriors on Tuesday.

“They played totally scrappy tonight,” said PH coach Beth Matlock Austin. “They’ve been wanting this [match] pretty good. … They played to their potential tonight, which I don’t know if we’ve done all season. We finally got it all together.”

Wilmoth had missed both of PH’s previous matches with Chilhowie with a bum ankle. The injury sidelined her for nearly two months, before she was cleared to play on Monday in the first round of the Hogoheegee tourney.

She recorded 13 kills in a first-round win over Holston and had another big performance on Tuesday.

“I’m really excited [to be back],” Wilmoth said. “I love playing with the team and everything. … We were like really excited, but I think we were nervous too [before the match]. We just knew we had to talk and keep each other up. We knew we could beat them.”

Kelsey Weddle added 14 kills and eight service points for PH. She was also relieved to have Wilmoth back.

“It’s been a big difference,” Weddle said. “It’s made us all play to our potential having her back.”

Having two 6-footers in Weddle and Wilmoth has been beneficial to the Rebels. Katie Haynes (11 kills) also played well on the front line.

“It makes a big difference, when your front row changes, but the team stays the same,” Austin said.

Megan Cleary dished out 19 assists for PH, which will play its third must-win match in four nights on Thursday.

“They’re super pumped and hopefully, it will work out for them” Austin said.

Northwood 3, Rural Retreat 2
While PH posted an upset, Northwood pieced together an improbable comeback with a 25-27, 22-25, 25-10, 26-24, 15-11 victory over second-seeded Rural Retreat in the other semifinal.

A Brandi Sackwitz ace clinched the victory for the Panthers and sent the Northwood players into a frenzy.

“I don’t know what to say,” said Northwood hitter Nin Snodgrass.

After dropping the first two games of the match, the Panthers relied on their versatile attack to rally. They also had plenty of motivation.

“Over half of our team is seniors and if we didn’t win tonight, that was it,” Snodgrass said. “We just decided to pull it together and play, finally.”

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