Brock Netter, Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
LOGAN — Three points away.
Down 2-0 and trailing 22-19 in Wednesday’s third set, Gallia Academy had a choice. It could either call it a season and be proud of the accomplishments thus far, or push themselves to force a fourth set.
About an hour later, the Blue Angels had punched their tickets to a district final.
With the rally of a lifetime, the energy to carry on, and the heart of a champion, Gallia overcame the odds and kept its perfect season intact with a five-set win over Logan Elm in a Division IV district semifinal — a 17-25, 19-25, 25-22, 25-18, 15-12 tally.
“We just kept pushing and reinforcing how hard they’ve worked to get to this point so they couldn’t let the opportunity slip away,” Gallia Academy coach Ashton Webb said. “We definitely came in a little nervous and Logan Elm has nine seniors, so they’ve been here before and understand what it’s like. But we regrouped after the second set, talked about what is your ‘why’ and came with the understanding that we should, and can, win this game. I couldn’t be more proud of the girls for how they fought for this.”
24-0. Unblemished.
No seniors on the team. First-year head coach.
“I’m super grateful for the people I’m surrounded by. We have such great players and a really great coaching staff,” Webb said. “We all have the same goal and same idea of winning, and that’s what is so important. It’s a complete team effort. These girls have put in so much hard work this season and none of this is possible without them.”
Logan Elm (18-6) had everything working in the beginning.
With the scored tied 4-4 in the first set, the Braves went on a 5-0 run behind a pair of kills from Adelyn Smith to take a 9-4 advantage.
GA fought back to cut the deficit to 12-11, but the Braves pieced a 6-0 run together, thanks to an ace from Sadie Binkley alongside kills from Kennedy Groff and Claire King, to go ahead 18-11 before closing out the victory.
Errors got the best of Gallia in the first, but it started to turn around early in the second. Trailing 6-2, the Blue Angels strung together an 8-1 run that featured kills from Aubree Frazier and Abigail Clark to take a 10-7 lead.
They maintained an edge until the Braves tied the set at 14-14, and that’s when the mistakes began to pile up. One error after another led to a 21-16 advantage for Logan Elm.
GA was able to shave LE’s advantage to 22-19, but Groff notched a kill, and Kimmy Petty served an ace, which was followed by a hitting error to seal the the second set’s final.
“We weren’t being very aggressive on our side of the ball and were sending over a lot of free balls instead of swinging,” Webb said. “Our serves weren’t aggressive and we weren’t playing our brand of volleyball, and that’s what we needed to do.”
CREDIT: Raymond Gleadle/SOSA
LE appeared to have the game well in hand, storming out to a 7-2 lead in the third behind kills from King, alongside an ace each from Petty and Groff.
The Braves continued to maintain control and, although GA stormed back to tie the set at 19-19, LE scored the next three points via kills from Groff and Gillian Savage to reclaim a 22-19 lead.
However, that final point meant a rotation switch and that happened to work in Gallia’s favor. So did having Aubree Frazier turn into the second coming of a Monstar.
Down 22-21, the 6-foot-2 junior hitter took matters into her own hands and ripped off three kills, sandwiched between an ace from Gracyn Clark, to end the set on a 6-0 run and send the match to a fourth.
“We saw that Abby [Clark] was really pushing herself and giving everything she had in the third set, and that really gave us the energy we needed,” Frazier said. “It came down to us pushing ourselves and leaning on each other. I think we realized that playing on this stage is more difficult than we thought, but we started communicating a lot better than we did in the first two sets.”
PHOTOS: Images from Gallia Academy’s district semifinal win over Logan Elm
Feeling momentum on their side and with the nerves of being on a district semifinal stage finally fading away, the Blue Angels were back to playing their brand of volleyball.
They never trailed in the fourth as a pair of kills from Aspen Barnes, and another from Rylee Saunders, put them ahead 6-3. Frazier scored four of the team’s next six points to make it 12-10.
Although Logan Elm continued to hang around all the way to 18-17, GA was not going to be denied. Barnes and Aftyn Graham each served up an ace, Clark added a kill, and Frazier sent down three blasts, including the set-ender to tie things up at 2-2.
“Our energy and communication were on a whole different level. After I got my first couple of kills, the confidence just continued to build and I knew I had it,” Frazier said. “I found my rhythm and once I did, I was no longer playing to find it and I was playing for my team. These girls have pushed me so much to be the player I am and I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Tied 3-3 in the fifth, Gallia put the pressure on as Clark made her impact felt with three kills. Jacey McWhorter served an ace and Frazier added back-to-back kills for a 9-4 lead.
Logan Elm fought back and an ace from Petty topped off a 6-1 run to tie the set at 10-10. A hitting error gave Gallia the lead back, and a pair of kills from Saunders pushed the advantage to 13-11.
A hitting error and the final kill from Barnes kept the Blue Angels’ season alive.
“I was really looking for the seams. All of the juniors, Aubree, Abby, Gracyn and Mal were encouraging me so much,” Saunders said. “I’ve watched how they’ve played all season and listened to what they tell me when it comes to how to find the seam. They’re great role models and I’ve learned a lot from them.”
As Logan Elm’s season reaches its end, Gallia Academy returns to action in a Division IV district final at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Logan High School against Circleville, who defeated Waverly to advance.
A win for the Blue Angels means the first volleyball district title in school history.
“No team in Gallia history from volleyball has ever won a district title, so it would be a huge turnaround in the program if we’re able to bring this one back,” Frazier said. “We get a ton of support from our community and winning a district would be so special for us and put more eyes on the volleyball program.”
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