Bridgeport was unable to defend its Class AAA state volleyball championship as the No. 6 seed Indians fell to No. 3 seed Spring Valley in four sets this afternoon at the Charleston Coliseum and Convention Center.
 
The setback closes out another solid Tribe season, which was impacted by key injuries, at 32-12-5.
 
BHS fell behind in the first set before rallying to make things interesting. The Tribe was down 8-2 coming out of the gate before things got close. BHS battled back to 14-13, but could not tie or take the lead. The Timberwolves closed out the set for a 25-17 win and the early 1-0 advantage.
 
The second set was not only much more competitive, but saw Bridgeport in front when it had a chance to even things up. Late in the set, BHS was up 24-23 and again at 25-24, but was unable to close the door. And SVHS stepped through the opening and won it by a 27-25 score to put the Indians squarely behind the eight ball down 2-0.
 
It appeared the Indians would lose in straight sets. BHS fell behind 11-3 and 16-6 and, showing the same fight the team has shown all season, allied to tie things up at 21. And this time, when the Indians went up 25-24, they closed the door and won 26-24.
 
In what would prove to be the decisive fourth set, the Tribe again came out of the gates slowly. Initially, the team was down 10-4 and then 18-8, and never recovered. Spring Valley would pull away to win 25-13 and advance to the semifinals.
 
The Indians made it to the states after capturing the Class AAA Region II title in a five-set thriller against Robert C. Byrd. The Indians won three of the last four sets to get the win against the Eagles.

In that contest, the scores were 22-25, 25-13, 25-21, 24-26, and 15-11.