John Bruce, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
LEESBURG — After finding itself down 2-0, and on the brink of elimination on Tuesday night, Fairfield flipped a switch and was able to roar back to avoid a major upset.
In a Division VI district quarterfinal, the Lions were able to outlast Paint Valley in five heart-pounding sets — a 15-25, 21-25, 25-22, 25-19, 15-8 final.
“We really wanted this win, but the first two sets did not go our way,” Fairfield’s Remi Moon said. “It was understood going into the third set that we had to give it everything we had if we wanted our season to continue.”
CREDIT: Raymond Gleadle/SOSA
Paint Valley entered Tuesday’s match as a sizable underdog, winning only three regular season games and previously falling in four sets to Fairfield in the regular season.
However, nobody seemed to tell the Bearcats that they were supposed to be a walkover.
PV started the match with five consecutive points, served by Hallie Rummer, including an ace.
The Bearcats continued rolling as Nevaeh Conley and Kylea Spangler took over and extended the lead to 15-3 before Fairfield’s Remi Moon provided a small spark for the Lions to get as close as 15-8.
But PV fought off the mini-run from the Lions, and Conley later hammered home a kill from the left side to close out the opening set at 25-15.
The second began in much of the same way as the first, with Rummer’s service getting the Bearcats out to a quick start.
Following three consecutive aces, the Lions took an early timeout while trailing 6-0. Fairfield slowly made its way back into the set behind the swinging of Moon and service from Addison Cannon.
Eventually, they had evened the match at 14-14 before an error opened the door for the Bearcats to storm in front once again.
With a slim lead, Conley connected on back-to-back aces to grab an advantage for Paint Valley, eventually leading to a 25-21 victory to gain a commanding 2-0 lead for the underdogs.
Things continued to look bleak for the Lions in the third as they trailed 12-7 after Paint Valley’s Karris Dye came alive at the net, along with another pair of aces from Conley.
However, consecutive kills from Moon, along with aggressive service from Jorja May, gave the Lions their first lead of the match at 13-12. The teams battled back and forth for the remainder of the set, before an ace from Paisley Stahlhut appeared to turn the tide one last time as the Lions pulled out a 25-22 win to stay alive.
PHOTOS: Images from Fairfield’s district quarterfinal win over Paint Valley
The fourth would be a set full of runs with Fairfield’s Cannon and Paint Valley’s Caitlyn Dyer trading consecutive aces. That was before a mix of May, Moon and freshman Bailey Jones exploded at the net for the Lions, allowing them to slowly pull away.
The newly-energized Lions refused to let the Bearcats get any momentum going throughout the set, leading to a 25-19 win to push the match to a fifth.
The final set began with a pair of aces from May to grab an early lead for the Lions before Conley got hot at the net to give the Bearcats a temporary lead.
Kills from Spangler and Aaliyah Young gave PV an 8-7 lead before the game turned one last time. A service error for the Bearcats tied the match, before two kills from Moon and a block from Jones forced a Bearcat timeout as Fairfield led 11-8.
Consecutive aces from Alyssa Bales out of the break helped elevate the Lions in the race to 15. The match finished off after a back set from Stahlhut caught the Bearcats off guard. They were unable to return the quick set, sealing Fairfield’s come-from-behind, season-saving victory.
“It was easily the best feeling I’ve ever experienced. Being down 2-0 and coming back to win in five sets with the fire that we played with was incredible,” Fairfield’s Jorja May said. “We wanted it so bad and you could see the drive and motivation we had going into that third set. Seeing everyone in the stands supporting us was such a confidence boost and it made us give everything we had.”
In the match, Remi Moon set a new Fairfield school record for kills in a single season. The dynamic junior did so with her 416th putdown of the season in the third set.
“It means a lot to accomplish that. It was one of the goals I had coming into this season,” Moon said. “I worked really hard to get it, but I also couldn’t have done it without my teammates, they made it possible for me to do it.”
The Lions will advance to a Division VI district semifinal on Tuesday at Wellston, where they will take on SHAC foe Lynchburg-Clay.
The Mustangs won the regular season match between the Highland County rivals in five highly-competitive sets.
“Our non-conference schedule was really important and definitely helped us,” Moon said. “We can’t get any better if we’re not playing teams that are going to push us to our limit, and we’re definitely excited to be advancing to district semifinals with another chance to play Lynchburg.”
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