Carson Francis, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
WELLSTON — If there was any pressure weighing on Valley on Saturday afternoon, it was surely hard to tell.
In search of their first district title since 1998, the Indians could have cracked under the bright lights that came with the chance to rewrite the history books.
Instead, they made things look extremely easy.
Valley (18-5) squared off with Eastern in a Division VI District Final at Wellston High School and, after facing an early 8-2 deficit in the first set, the Indians rallied and cruised their way to a 25-17, 25-7, 25-14 sweep to put their district title drought to rest.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
“These girls have been working really hard since June. I preached at them consistency, doing the little things and that big things would come,” Valley head coach Nikki Crotty said. “They have done that since the get-go. We’ve talked about when you make mistakes, having mental toughness and resetting. They did that today. They work hard and they have each other’s backs.”
Eastern (19-5) had the first serve and quickly capitalized in the form of a Laken Gullett service ace. The Eagles stayed hot and built the lead to 8-2 after Aubrey Quillen also cashed in from the service line.
But with Eastern scorching, Valley made sure its fire extinguishers were at the ready.
Following a timeout, the Indians were able to stop the bleeding as Katelyn Queen assisted Kendyll Christman for a kill. Then, they sent Laylee McGraw to the service line, where she logged an ace of her own, sparking a run to cut the Eagles’ lead to 8-7.
The two teams then fought to a tie at 10-10 and later at 13-13, which is where Valley really began to turn the corner.
Queen assisted Christman twice and scored on her own to put the Indians ahead by a 16-13 count. They continued to pull away from there, using the momentum to take the first set by a 25-17 score.
“My kids know how to readjust, they know how to fix problems and they know how to reset. They don’t get upset with little things and they never once look back,” Crotty said. “They didn’t hang their heads because they know that we’re still in this. They know they can work hard. They get a kill and they take it one point at a time.”
Valley never looked back from that point on.
Gullett again gave Eastern the first point of the set in the second, but the Indians answered and jumped out to a 3-1 advantage. That lead quickly grew to 11-3 after a run capped off by two kills from Mya Williams and another by EJ Vice.
Eastern simply had no answer.
Though the Eagles got service back after a Valley attacking error, they handed it right back to the Indians on the very next serve. From there, Vice went to the service line and contributed consecutive aces while helping to extend the lead to 16-4.
That’d be more than enough of a cushion for the Indians to cruise to a 25-7 victory.
“We’re a very young team. I have two freshmen and two sophomores on the floor, so to start, you’ve got to get the jitters out first. Have them work those problems out in the beginning,” Crotty said. “And once they get those jitters out, you can see how fluid we are, and then they start playing hard.”
And with a district title trophy in sight, Valley kept its foot on the gas in the third.
The Indians quickly got off to a 2-0 lead with kills from Christman and Ella Thompson. Eastern stayed resilient and stayed in striking distance as a Valley attacking error later cut the lead to just 11-10.
But just as they had done all day, the Indians delivered a counterpunch.
Queen assisted Thompson for a kill coming out of a timeout before back-to-back kills from Williams helped Valley push the lead to 17-11. And, once again, the Eagles couldn’t put a stop to Valley’s attack.
With the Indians ahead 24-14, Eastern gave one final push, but the return of a Williams serve was just wide of the sideline, and Valley was able to celebrate a sweep of Eastern — cementing the program’s first district crown in 27 years.
While the Eagles’ season comes to a close, the Indians advance to Wednesday’s Division VI regional semifinal. That matchup is set to begin at 6 p.m. at Zanesville High School.
Valley will be matched up with South Webster, who dropped Lynchburg-Clay in four sets to advance.
During the regular season, Valley and SW met twice with each team taking a match.
“[South Webster head coach Darcee Claxon]’s a great coach. My respect goes out to Darcee. She beat us the first time, and we beat them the second time. We’re both going to play hard, and whoever makes the least amount of mistakes is who I think is going to win,” Crotty said. “[South Webster] is a really good serving team, and I think passing is going to be key, too. Being able to pass well and get our hits in, I think will be key.”
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