Brock Netter, Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by Holzer Health System.
SEAMAN — It’s one thing to envision being the team to end North Adams’ SHAC winning streak.
It’s another thing to actually do it.
Since entering high school as freshmen, North Adams’ now-seniors have never lost in conference action and that streak remained intact on Monday.
Lynchburg-Clay brought the fight and made the Devils work, but the experience and big-game ability was enough for the Green Devils to earn a 25-19, 25-21 and 25-23 sweep over the Mustangs.
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA
“We knew how important winning this game was, especially since whoever won was the only team who could get the Gold Ball,” North Adams’ Ava Psitole said. “It also gives us really good momentum for this week with Fayetteville, the rest of the week and next week against Fairfield.”
With both teams undefeated in league play going into the matchup, North Adams (11-3, 9-0 SHAC), who hasn’t lost to a conference opponent since 2023, quickly set the tone.
Back-to-back blocks from Sophia Barlow, followed by a kill from Pistole, had NA ahead 10-3 before that lead swelled to 16-3 courtesy, of an 11-0 run.
Although Lynchburg-Clay (11-2, 7-1 SHAC) battled back behind the service of Halle Greene, Jules Vesey and Hydee Green to bring the game within 19-14, the hole was just too deep to climb out of as Barlow and Emma Pistole finished with kills to take the opening set.
PHOTOS: Images from North Adams’ win over Lynchburg-Clay
“Winning the first set really gets a lot of stress out and any worries that we were having about the game,” Ava Pistole said. “Getting that big lead was huge, it meant they had to come up to get us instead of us chasing them and being ahead 1-0 gives us momentum. They have some really good players who play with a really good mindset, and they’ve gotten better over the years.”
That run the Mustangs put together in the first set gave them the belief they could hang, and they began to bring the juice in the second.
They maintained an early lead behind kills from Melany Stephenson, Becca McLaughlin and Kylie O’Connor to control a 9-6 lead.
Both teams exchanged punches up to 15-15 until a block from Barlow put the Green Devils ahead. Behind her and Emma Pistole at the net, the distance only grew further until an ace from Morgan Wheeler sealed the second-set victory.
“Making that jump from junior high straight to varsity isn’t easy, but Sophia did a really great job of making that transition last year and she’s been great this year,” North Adams’ Elizabeth Raines said. “Setting her has been great, even if it is a challenge at times since it’s my first year as a setter. But she’s grown so much as a player, which has made us all better as a team.”
The Mustangs still had plenty of fight left, and went back to work in the third. They led throughout the majority of the third set behind O’Connor, Stephenson, Greene and Addy Carraher, owning advantages of 9-7, 14-11, 17-13 and 21-18.
However, North Adams hung around as kills from Elizabeth Raines, Ava Pistole and Emma Pistole later tied the set at 22-22.
With the score deadlocked at 23-23, the Green Devils had had enough play time and closed the night with a kill and block from Ava Pistole to turn off the lights with a victory in their back pocket.
“Every league team wants to beat North Adams, we know that coming into every game we play,” Raines said. “It’s been almost four years since it’s happened, so every game is big to us and we have to continue approaching it that way moving ahead since there’s still some big games left.”
North Adams defeated Fayetteville on Tuesday, and Northwest on Wednesday, both in four sets, while Lynchburg-Clay defeated Whiteoak in straight sets on Tuesday and Peebles on Thursday.
The Mustangs travel to Bethel-Tate on Monday, while the Green Devils host Portsmouth West that same evening.
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