Panthers shut out Falcons

SHENANDOAH -- Forcing her best smile, Central senior Ashley Bodge scurried to hide her tears as a nearby camera came to take a picture.

Her season had just come to an end, thanks to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-19, 25-13) loss to Page County on Monday night. But more importantly, her high school volleyball career was over.

"It's sad for us seniors, but at the same time, it's just a game," Bodge said. "You can't do anything about it. It's high school. You're not winning a million dollars at the end, and honestly I think out of every team we've played against our team was probably the only one that had fun. We never yelled at each other, we never doubted each other and we always had fun, and I think that was probably the most important part of our season."

While Bodge said she's able to look back at her senior season and cherish the "fun" times, Monday's match looked like anything but fun for the Falcons, as it took just three games for Page County to eliminate Central from the Shenandoah District tournament.

After grabbing a 2-1 lead early in the first set, the Falcons quickly found themselves trailing the Panthers 11-6. Central was able to trim the lead as the set continued, however, eventually tying the score at 15. From there, Page County went on a 10-4 run to close out the opening set and give the Panthers a 1-0 advantage.

The second set was a little tighter than the first, as the Falcons held a 15-11 lead midway through. That lead didn't last long, however, as Page County rallied to tie the score at 15, forcing Central coach Allison Huckstep to use a timeout. Out of the timeout, the momentum continued to stay with the Panthers, as they took the lead on the next point, before coasting to a six-point win.

"Honestly, all we did was serve it over the net and they made mistakes," Page County coach Alan Knight said. "When we did get a chance to pass it and hit it, we did a nice job of putting some balls in play and hitting some balls and putting them away, which is good on our part."

In the third set, any spark left in the Falcons was extinguished. Page County grabbed a 3-0 lead, then never trailed again. At one point the Panthers held an 18-6 lead, and despite a few points from Central at the end, it wasn't enough to prevent the shutout and the final chapter of the Falcons' season.

"Even in losses, we came at it having fun and we just praise our coaches for being so nice," senior Brea Hinegardner said. "We've seen some coaches that really yell at their players and their facial expressions really don't look like they're having fun out there, and that's the most important part."

In addition to being two of the three seniors for Central, both Bodge and Hinegardner were captains for this year's squad. After the match, both agreed that while they're going to miss their teammates, they've left a solid foundation in place for the future.

"We definitely came more together this year like a family more than just a team," Hinegardner said. "And we did so much stuff together as a team. We're really going to miss them."

As for Page County, the Panthers move on to face top-seeded Riverheads in a semifinal match on Wednesday. The Gladiators captured their second district regular-season championship in school history, with the other coming in 1984.

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