The old saying “a winner never quits and a quitter never wins” holds true. The Paden City high school volleyball team proved it once again.

Breezing through the sectional and regional volleyball tournamnets, the Wildcats landed themselves in uncharted territory with a spot among the states eight best teams, at the WVSSAC event in Charleston.

The first round matchup pitted them against a fine Greenbriar West team, but the Caviliars from Charmco couldn’t keep pace with the swifth and stronger Cats and fell behind early on Friday afternoon and was disposed of in three straight sets.

The Wildcats then took a four hour mini-break before coming back as underdogs against the LKC champion Parkersburg Catholic Crusaders later the same evening in a semi-final match.

Catholic demonstrated some power hitting and good all-around team play to jump ahead 1-0 by taking set one. However, the mighty Wildcats proved to be to much with the twosome of Mallory Yeater and Hope Weber having their way around the net. The Wildcats took set two and were on their way as they finished the match with a 3-1 victory.

The win set the stage for Saturday’s big showdown with Wirt County, a team who’s no stranger to the state tournament and civic center floor with 19 appearances in the last 23 years, while winning 12 state titles along the way. They entered the contest with a record of 35 wins, five losses and four ties.

Paden City on the other hand enetered the title match with a school record 36 wins and four losses and was hoping to get their second upset in two days, but the Tigers had more fire power on Saturday and came away as state champions with the Wildcats settling for runnersup.

Although the Cats fell in three straight it wasn’t for lack of effort as they fought to the end never quitting. With that being said this group of girls and coaches came away winners in more ways than one. They never quit, they have a school record 36 wins and have etched their names in history by being the first of many to come appearances at the big dance in Charleston.

Add to that they won the top sportsmanship award and landed three spots on the all-tournament team. Each team member won an individual plaque signifying their participation, while yet another award will take it’s place in the halls of Paden City high school.

The Paden City Pride (fans) made their appearance known as they filled the stands to let everyon know the Cats were back in town. This was the first time in 32 years the Wildcats have invaded the Civic Center and I think they liked it. If you haven’t all ready done so make your plans for next year. G0–00000! Cats.

Volleyball wasn’t the only game in town however, as the WVU men’s basketball team got the big time win over Pittsburgh with a 15 point rout led by freshman sensation 6-foot-9 Oscar Tshiebwe, who threw in 20 points and scraped the boards for 17 rebounds.

The Mountaineers went to 2-0 with the win.

The WVU faithful got another big surprise on Saturday as the Mountiees football team surfaced and took down number 24 Knasas St. 24-20 behind quarterback Jarret Doege’s 234 yards passing and three touchdowns. A welcome site to see!

The ultimate sporting event of the week however took place on Thursday, in Cleveland, where the Browns weren’t satisfied with a win over the Steelers. They had to get violent, and nearly take the head off of Pittsburg, quarterback Mason Rudolph. For that, they share the most unsportsmanship award of the week with whover scratched go Rebels into the hood of a rivals car at the State Volleyball Tournament. eparsons@tylerstarnews.com