Girls' volleyball: McConnellsburg falls in Inter-County Conference Championship to West Branch

MCCONNELLSBURG >> Although the match got progressively better, it was not easy day for McConnellsburg's girls volleyball team in the Inter-County Conference Championship on Saturday afternoon.

The Spartans faced a tough West Branch squad, and suffered a 3-0 loss. McConnellsburg was held to a mere seven points in the first set, but then managed 14 and 15 points in the next two sets, respectively.

"I thought we battled a little more with each game," Spartan coach Heidi Johnston said. "Against a great team like that, that we hadn't seen before and didn't know a whole lot about, we needed to adjust, and I thought we did that fairly well over."

Offense was especially tough to come by for McConnellsburg (15-4). Kylie Keefer was the leader in kills with three, while Kacey Hann, Carly Swope and Bridgette Ritchey each had a pair.

Defensively, Kailey Dils led the way with nine digs, Swope finished with seven and Lindsey Randler contributed six.

"We couldn't get much going offensively against a pretty big block," Johnston said. "Our receive held up pretty well. Our big focus was that it was an extra game that we get to prep for districts. We played a great team, and tried to play up for them to be ready for Monday."

The Spartans travel to North Star on Monday to take on Shade in the first round of the District 5 Class A playoffs.

West Branch 3, McConnellsburg 0

Sets — 25-7, 25-14, 15-15

at McConnellsburg

McConnellsburg Statistics

Kills — Kylie Keefer 3; Blocks — Keefer 1, Carly Swope 1; Assists — Lindsey Randler 8; Digs — Kailey Dils 9, Swope 7, Randler 6; Aces — Keefer, Randler, Swope.