Derrick Webb, Staff Writer

Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
BEAVER — When it happened, Keetyn Hupp wanted nothing to do with a stoppage in play.

CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
Instead, the North Adams senior wanted her team to keep momentum and continue to ride a wave of energy.
While she earned the single moment, she also saw the bigger picture, proving her selflessness.
Hupp’s 1,000th career kill was a great accomplishment. But a win to allow the Devils’ season to march on was much more important.
Hupp got both.
Behind its leader, North Adams (17-7) put away a four-set win over Nelsonville-York on Tuesday by a 25-21, 25-15, 23-25, 25-19 final — the program’s first district final appearance since 2014 and the first in Division III since 2009.
“It’s neat to get my 1,000th kill and it’s been a weight on my shoulders for a few weeks,” Hupp said. “But once it was out of the way, I knew I had to get my team back into things. Like it was over so we needed to focus back [into the match].”
Nelsonville-York (22-2) took control early in the first set and rushed out to an 11-5 lead. However, after a kill from Hupp and another from Katelynn Boerger, the Buckeyes’ lead had dwindled to just two points at 12-10.
Later, with the Buckeyes leading 15-12, Hupp led a 4-0 run to give North Adams its first lead at 16-15. That momentum helped the Green Devils build a 22-18 advantage before eventually putting away a 25-21 victory.
PHOTOS: Images from North Adams’ win over Nelsonville-York
North Adams’ Daisy Holt started the second with a kill before Hupp logged an ace to put the Devils ahead 8-4. Holt and Boerger then logged back-to-back kills for a 10-5 edge before Boerger sparked a 7-0 run with a kill, giving NA an 18-9 advantage.
That was more than enough of a lead for the Devils to go ahead 2-0 in the match with a dominant 25-15 victory.
Then, all of the sudden, the tables turned in the fourth.
The Buckeyes began finding holes in North Adams’ defense, building leads of 7-6 and 13-8. The Devils responded with a run to tie the game at 15-15 but NY went ahead 19-16 before holding on for a 25-23 win to cut NA’s match lead in half.
“They started triple-blocking [in the third] in the middle and after they would do that, where we were tipping, we couldn’t back off and [score],” Boerger said. “So we had to adjust to that a little bit and go to the opposite side. We just had to get our coverage better, too. That’s one thing that we sometimes struggle with.”
Boerger and Hupp would allow no such repeat in the fourth.
The duo repeatedly penetrated NY’s defensive game plan and wreaked havoc at the net and the service line, giving the Devils a 10-9 lead in the midst of helping their teammates rip off a 9-0 run to go ahead 18-10.
That’s all the boost NA needed to put the Buckeyes away for good.
“This is our second year playing together so we already had that connection,” Hupp said of her relationship with Boerger. “The biggest thing for us was connecting with our new setter. We gained that connection pretty quickly. I always read Katelynn and let her know someone’s open and she’ll always do the same for me. We play off of each other all the time.”
Hupp led the team statistically with 17 kills alongside two aces and 15 digs. Boerger followed with 14 kills, three aces, a pair of blocks and a team-high 20 digs. Natalee Ragan added 16 digs and 32 assists, Kirsten Campbell finished with 18 digs, and Riley Richey had seven kills.
The win allows the Devils to advance to a Division III district final where they’ll face South Webster, a winner over West on Tuesday, at 5 p.m., Saturday at Waverly High School.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve been in the district finals, so this is a great accomplishment,” Hupp said. “We watched [Nelsonville’s] film and based what we did off what they gave us. We just have to play our game.”
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