Kenneth Hay, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by Holzer Health System.
KINNIKINNICK — Going into the year, Unioto knew its volleyball program was going to look a little different.
After graduating a half dozen seniors, the Shermans knew they’d be heavily relying on a very young group to steer the ship.
10 games into the season, the Shermans have shown tons of progress. But their youth and inexperience have also shown up at times.
Having said that, coach Gavin Patterson has always known that if his group could click on all cylinders, it could accomplish each and every goal that’s been set.
On Tuesday night, that’s exactly what happened.
The Shermans (7-3, 4-1 SVC) clicked, battling back to take a four-set win over Zane Trace — handing the Pioneers their first league loss by a 22-25, 25-14, 25-18, 25-16 final.
CREDIT: Kenneth Hay/SOSA
It didn’t start out all purple and gold, though.
The first set showcased Zane Trace’s ability to be dangerous in an effort led by junior Karlee Snavely.
Snavely logged five kills in the game to give the Pioneers (7-2, 4-1 SVC) a 1-0 lead in the match.
With Snavely’s ability to take over the match at any point, Unioto couldn’t afford to let her stay hot.
It had to strike back.
“I think we just had to remember that we know Karlee’s going to get her hit. She’s a great hitter, but we had to come back with our offense. So even if our defense can’t get there, we have to come back with our offense,” Unioto’s Kiley Puckett said. “So, it’s just knowing that she’s going to get her hits, but also knowing that we have to come back with ours.”
From that point forward, it was all Unioto.
In the second, a mix of great service work from multiple Shermans, alongside a strong showing from Charlotte Dennis at the net, started to give the Shermans momentum as they put away a dominant 25-14 win to tie the match.
Set three was a hitting showcase for Unioto.
The Pioneers took an early 7-3 lead, following four straight aces from Lydia Jarrell.
But the Shermans struck back with kills from Dennis and Kori Grubbs, along with a pair of aces from Emma Spetnagel, to even the score.
The set stayed close into the mid-teens, but that’s when Unioto found its rhythm. At the same time, the Shermans saw Karlee Snavely set up in the back row and knew it was their time to strike.
“[Snavely] is an amazing hitter and we knew that when she was in the back row, we were going to have to go,” Dennis said on their run. “She’s going to get those points, so we had to use that to the best of our advantage.”
That did just that as Dennis and Grubs went kill-for-kill the rest of the way through, wrapping up a 25-18 win.
Now up 2-1 in the match in a hostile environment after taking some wind out of ZT’s sails, Unioto knew it had to put the victory away and not let the Pioneers’ faithful get back into the game.
The Sherman took an early 10-5 lead in the fourth, thanks to kills from Grubbs and Dennis, but a mix of self-inflicted errors and a run from Snavely narrowed the advantage to 13-10.
But they weren’t going to be denied. From that point forward, every Sherman made important contributions.
Spetnagel, Dennis, Grubbs, Kinzli Batson and Erica Beam all put their names on the stat sheet, teaming up for a final run that wrapped up the match.
Statistically, the Shermans stuffed the book.
Dennis lead the Shermans with 15 kills while Grubbs put up 11 of her own. Batson had seven kills of her own, and Abagail Watson and Spetnagel had six each.
The Shermans also had seven aces, split between Batson and Spetnagel.
As for Zane Trace, Snavely led the Pioneers with 20 kills, four aces and nine digs. Lydia Jarrell also contributed with 11 assists, six digs and four aces, while Leah Wiseman added 16 assists and four digs.
While the Pioneers attempt to bounce back on Thursday at Southeastern, Unioto returns home to meet with Huntington.
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