Carson Francis, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by Holzer Health System.
GALLIPOLIS — If you hadn’t heard the name already, you’ll want to remember Piper Pugh.
Not one senior played for Gallia Academy last season. But even with all that production returning, Pugh has stolen the eyes of anyone and everyone watching Southeast Ohio volleyball.
And when the Blue Angels faced a true test in the form of 2025 Division III State Runner-Up, Bloom-Carroll on Thursday evening, the freshman showed that she not only talks the talk — she walks the walk.
Pugh finished with a team-high 20 kills as Gallia Academy broke out the brooms against Bloom-Carroll, bumping their record to 4-0 on the young season — all four wins coming in straight sets.
“I feel like we’ve been preparing for this for about two weeks now. We’ve been really locked in on this game and our scouting report has been to a tee, and the girls went out and executed what we needed them to do,” Gallia Academy coach Ashton Webb said. “Bloom-Carroll is an amazing program, and we knew that even if they lost a couple players from last year that they have a strong program led by [head coach] Kyle [McFerin]. We knew it was going to be a battle, but for our girls to sweep them, I think it shows what we’ve got in us.”
Pugh started off strong in the opening set with four kills to build an 11-7 lead for her team. The advantage grew to 15-10 after back-to-back kills from Aubree Frazier.
Then, when Bloom-Carroll (2-1) inched within two points, Gallia Academy blew the set open from there, growing the lead to as much as six points before a Bulldog attacking error capped off a 25-21 first-set victory for GA.
“I think our team has a mindset of ‘We over me.’ We’re all just looking to get the win and looking at the bigger picture,” Webb said. “No matter who’s scored all the points and who’s not, who’s getting assists and who’s not, it’s not about that for us. We’ve really instilled ‘We over me,’ and you can really see that in our on-court culture.”
The Bulldogs weren’t going to just lay down easily, though.
After a Rylee Saunders kill, Bloom-Carroll rounded off four straight points, thanks to kills from Kylee Reiser and Ayla Mithcell, a Renee Smith service ace and a Blue Angel attacking error.
Gallia Academy was prepared for that, though, and had an answer.
Pugh and Frazier each cashed in with kills before a Bulldog attacking error gave Gallia Academy the lead back.
Then, with the Blue Angels leading 11-9, sophomore Aspen Barnes decided to blow the set wide open. Chipping in four kills in five volleys, Barnes sparked a 6-0 run for Gallia Academy before the lead grew to 20-10.
CREDIT: Raymond Gleadle/SOSA
Pugh would then close things out from there, logging four kills to close out a 25-16 second-set win, giving the Blue Angels a 2-0 match lead.
“I know Chloe [Bennett] and Mallory [Petro] are always going to have our backs, no matter what,” Pugh said. “Gracyn is going to give us a perfect ball every time, so knowing they’re back there really helps take the pressure off.”
And, thankfully for Gallia Academy, the freshman still had plenty left in the tank.
Looking to complete the sweep, Pugh posted a pair of kills by way of Saunders and Gracyn Clark, respectively, to put Gallia Academy up 4-3 early.
Then, with GA trailing 7-6, Clark assisted Barnes for a kill before dishing back-to-back passes to Abby Clark for kills to give the Blue Angels a two-point lead. Clark would then knock down an overpass on the ensuing serve to give GA a 10-8 lead.
The Blue Angels continued to turn to Pugh down the stretch.
While Bloom-Carroll went neck-and-neck with Gallia in the third set, Pugh collected kills to give the Blue Angels leads of 14-11, 15-12, 18-17 and 21-19.
And when Bloom-Carroll rallied back to tie the set at 24-24, the Blue Angels turned to Barnes to slam the door.
She did just that.
Back-to-back slams at the net from the sophomore put an end to the third set as Gallia Academy completed a 25-21, 25-16, 26-24 sweep of Bloom-Carroll.
“I know [Bloom-Carroll] is very much a battle-tested team, and we’ve been preparing for them all week in practice and watching some film,” Barnes said. “We just came in ready because we knew they were going to be good, and we stayed focused.”
After dropping its first contest of the season, Bloom-Carroll will look to rebound against Bishop Hartley on Tuesday before traveling to Circleville on Thursday in MSL-Buckeye action.
Meanwhile, Gallia Academy continues its non-league slate with a trip to Miami Trace on Saturday afternoon. The Blue Angels resume OVC play when they host South Point on Tuesday.
“I can’t thank the community enough for showing up to these games, and even when we’re playing teams that they know we’re going to smash, they show up for these girls every day,” Webb said. “They know that they’re putting in the work in the weight room, they see how much work they’re putting in the gym. And I think it’s easy to get behind a team that puts in the work and wants to win, and you can just tell the community is behind us and it means everything to us.”
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