Brock Netter, Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by Holzer Health System.
LUCASVILLE — A 17-year losing streak is now a thing of the past.
As the final point dropped to the floor on Thursday night, inside a jam-packed gymnasium, Valley’s faithful fans had tears streaming down their faces with two reasons to celebrate.
Over the last 17 years, the Indians have played Wheelersburg 36 times — including earlier this season — and had lost every single matchup.
The last time Valley was able to call itself a conference champion was in 2009.
Then Thursday happened, and a new chapter was written.
With unmatched energy and revenge on their minds, the Indians knocked off the Pirates by a 25-13, 24-26, 25-22, 25-19 final to earn a share of the SOC III championship.
“This was a complete team effort. This is what the girls have worked so hard for since May, and to see it pay off for them is so incredible,” Valley coach Nikki Crotty said. “We had a game plan, a strategy and everyone had a role to play, and they did so great. They deserve this so much. This was the biggest crowd I’ve seen at a home volleyball game, and the way they showed up for the girls is the same way the girls showed up for them.”
Out of the gates, Valley (19-1, 9-1 SOC III) jumped out to a 5-1 lead behind a pair of kills from Kendyl Christman, two blocks from Peyton Hunter and an ace from Katelyn Queen.
That lead later grew to 11-4, following an ace from Laylee McGraw, and the Indians were off to the races.
Behind kills from Christman, Hunter, E.J. Vice and Mya Williams, their lead never shrunk below five points as they decisively took the first set.
With its foot on the gas, Valley opened up the second with a 9-6 lead following kills from Williams, Vice, Christman and a block from Queen.
Hunter later came up with a kill and back-to-back blocks, pushing the score to 13-9, and later to 17-14, after a kill from Vice.
The Indians seemed to be closing in on a victory after kills from Hunter, Christman and Queen had them two points away at 23-19.
However, Wheelersburg (19-3, 9-1 SOC III) began to fight back.
Laikyn Hall ripped a kill and logged an ace, alongside a kill from Adi Bockway, to trim the deficit to 23-22.
Facing match-point after a kill from Christman, the Pirates fed the ball four straight times to Mullins, and she delivered on all four trips to steal a second-set win.
PHOTOS: Images from Valley’s win over Wheelersburg
“These girls didn’t want to have that feeling again like they did the first time when we played at Wheelersburg earlier,” Crotty said. “There were two things we really focused on. Being intentional about where we’re putting the ball at, and following our game plan. The first time around, any time they had a free ball, they attacked our setter and we didn’t have a backup plan. We did this time, and had a lot more back-row attacks, which Laylee McGraw deserves a lot of credit for. We also didn’t put free balls in the middle of the court. We put them in different places to make it more challenging and set up our defense.”
It was a stalemate to open the third as neither team was giving an inch — with ties taking place at 4-4, 8-8 and 10-10, before Mullins and Lainey Skeenes had kills, alongside an ace from Hall, to give the Indians a 15-11 lead.
Valley battled to tie the set at 17-17, 19-19 and 20-20, before a pair of kills from Christman gave it a 22-21 lead.
Despite committing a service error, the Indians held firm and used defense with blocks from Queen and Hunter to close out the win for a 2-1 match lead.
“There’s no easy ball and we knew that they were going to come back stronger,” Queen said. “It came down to us staying consistent and trusting the work we’ve put in all season. We know that we’re a really good team and we’ve shown that all year, so we just continued to push.”
As they began to taste the SOC III championship, the Indians immediately went on the attack in the third as kills from Christman, Hunter and Zoe Wolfe, along with aces from Christman and Queen, made it 7-2 early.
The Pirates found their footing and rallied back to take an 11-10 lead, following an ace from Skeenes. They continued to hold a lead until committing a service error to tie the set at 14-14.
Valley saw its opening and turned up the heat with a 7-1 run behind kills from Wolfe and Vice, alongside two blocks from Hunter, to go ahead 21-15.
Although Wheelersburg scored the next three points behind Mullins and Hall, the night belonged to the Indians as the Pirates committed a service error that ended the night and sent the Valley faithful into an uproar.
“All it takes is that one ball to go your way and everything changes. That happened with us in the third set and we never looked back,” Christman said. “The crowd gave us that energy to push up to win that third set and it carried over into the fourth. We came out with a lot of confidence, high energy, played our game and that’s what won us the game. Seeing that ’26 go up on the banner is so special and it’s always going to be ours, which means more to us than anything.”
Both teams now turn their attention to tournament play.
Valley, who earned the No. 1 seed in Division VI, will host Symmes Valley on Tuesday. Wheelersburg earned a No. 2 seed in Division IV, and will play the winner of Hillsboro and Chesapeake on Thursday, Oct. 29 at Logan High School.
“Not being on the court this season has been tough, but I know they can beat any team they play against and that’s what I remind them of,” Valley’s Ella Thompson said. “I believe in them and I know they have what it takes to make a long tournament run again.”
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