Derrick Webb, Managing Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
PORTSMOUTH — Coming into Monday’s game at Notre Dame, Valley had yet to lose.
The Indians, through their first eight games, had fought to secure each victory and had shown glimpses of brilliance while doing so.
But Monday simply wasn’t their night … and that’s credit to the Titans, who were brilliant themselves.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
Led by the three-headed attack of Maycee Ford, Sophia Phillips and Jaysa Bryant, Notre Dame (6-2) handed Valley its first loss of the season by a 25-22, 16-25, 25-20, 25-19 final.
“This is a pretty good win. I think it was our best all-around game so far,” Ford said. “We’ve lost two games and this was a confidence booster. Every little thing was going well. We weren’t messing up on the hits or on the blocks. It was just going well.”
Ford, Phillips and Bryant were all a problem for Valley’s defense all night long.
However, that also had a lot to do with setters Lyndsey Schaefer and Ryan Purcell, who both consistently put the ball on target, giving their hitters a chance to swing.
“I feel like they mix the ball around really well,” Ford said of Schaefer and Purcell. “I feel like Valley did a really good job of scouting us. They were tracking hitters. So Jaysa getting going tonight really helped and our setters recognized that.”
Ford powered Notre Dame to a 6-2 lead early in the first before Valley, led by Kendyl Christman, battled back to force a 10-10 tie.
The Indians continued to apply pressure, too, and did so from the service line, seizing a 13-10 lead with a 4-0 burst. But Schaefer logged an ace of her own to put ND back in front, 14-13, before Bryant and Ford both tallied kills for a 21-16 advantage.
That was enough momentum to put away a 25-22 victory.
Valley took exception to that and immediately took a 7-3 lead in the second behind the play of Christman and Mya Williams. Later, after Peyton Hunter gave the Indians a 13-6 lead, Katelyn Queen served up an ace for a 17-8 advantage.
It was a hole Notre Dame couldn’t climb out of as the Indians tied the match with a 25-16 win.
In the third, the Titans got some help from the sidelines.
Midway through the set, Valley held a 15-12 lead. But a blockbuster kill from Ford and an assembling of ND’s student section, The Pew, swung all momentum onto ND’s bench.
It was the start of a 10-0 run — powered by Ford and Bryant — that gave Notre Dame a 21-15 advantage, en route to a 25-20 win.
“We got a rally going and then our cheer block was obviously loud,” Ford said. “That helped a lot with momentum. That’s kind of what got us started going into the third.”
Bryant continued to put superior swings on the ball in the fourth and got a ton of help from Phillips and Laney Strickland. That duo worked to give Notre Dame leads of 6-1, 14-7 and 20-9 in a set they never trailed in.
PHOTOS: Images from Notre Dame’s win over Valley
“I just knew that if I started hitting the ball and kept us going, then our whole team would come together. We were looking to attack the middle of the floor and to take out Valley’s setter. It’s really fun [playing in ND’s offense],” Bryant said. “Just seeing everyone else hit the ball well, it kind of just makes me want to do all that I can and match that energy.”
Valley bounced back with a four-set win over Waverly on Tuesday. The Indians will be back in action on Thursday, hosting Minford.
As for Notre Dame, the Titans followed Monday’s win with another victory, also on Tuesday, at New Boston. They’ll be back in action on Thursday, welcoming in Ironton St. Joe.
“We just need to tighten up our defense,” Ford said. “Good defense leads to offense. Once we can do that, passes are good, sets are good and hits are good. It all just clicks when we play good defense.”
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