Brock Netter, Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by Holzer Health System.
AMANDA — Circleville found itself in quite a dogfight on Tuesday.
The Tigers were well aware that Amanda-Clearcreek was a much-improved team compared to previous matchups, and they still may have underestimated how much grit the Aces have.
They pushed the Tigers to the limit, forcing them into long rallies and into some miscommunications at times. However, Circleville (3-1, 1-0 MSL) fought through and came out unscathed with a straight-set victory to open MSL action — a 25-22, 30-28, 25-15 final.
“What scrappy volleyball both teams played. We’ve been watching them and seen their scores, so we had an idea of how scrappy of a team they are,” Circleville coach Crystal Thornsley said. “We’re a pretty even-balanced team offensively, and we knew that every point had to be earned. It was a battle. The girls shook off some nerves after the first set and played great volleyball.”
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA
Amanda-Clearcreek (2-4, 0-1 MSL) brought the fight directly to the Tigers, understanding that the margin for error against a defending district champion was slim to none.
Out of the gates, they traded points to tie the set at 4-4 before a pair of kills and an ace from Ally Thornsley put the Tigers ahead by three.
They later forced ties at 7-7, 10-10, 16-16 and 21-21, following service errors from both teams. Circleville took a 22-21 lead and Mallory McConnell sent down a pair of kills. An AC hitting error then sealed the deal on the first set.
“We just took things point-by-point. We weren’t down by a huge margin at any point, so we just had to keep going and playing the game,” Circleville’s Kaylee West said. “We know Amanda was a much better team compared to in past years. So we really locked in during practice and put it all together tonight.”
As tight as the first set was, the second left even less breathing room.
The Aces owned the biggest lead of the game, jumping ahead 5-0 with a pair of kills from Zetta Dodson, one from Channing Riley and an ace from Olivia Davis.
PHOTOS: Images from Circleville’s win over Amanda-Clearcreek
Circleville battled back behind kills from Thornsley and McConnell to tie the set at 10-10 before a kill from West gave the Tigers the lead.
The game was later knotted at 17-17, and again at 22-22. And the Aces earned the next two points to set up match point.
However, they committed a service error and West powered a kill to tie things up at 24-24. From there, the back-and-forth commenced until 28-28.
Thornsley smashed a kill before ending the set with an ace to put Circleville ahead 2-0 in the match.
“We had a lot of grit in that second set,” Ally Thornsley said. “At one point, we were down 24-22. So getting those next two points were huge. It was just point-by-point after that until the end. But it was a bit of a relief to get that second set.”
The Aces still had some fight left in the third, taking an 8-7 lead after an ace from Gavynn Sowers.
McConnell answered with a kill, followed by an ace from Peyton McLaughlin, to cap a 4-0 run that put the Tigers ahead 11-8.
It was petal to the medal from there as Brooklyn Cramer served a pair of aces and Jocelyn McLaughlin added a kill, making up part of an 8-1 run that ultimately put the game, and match, out of reach.
“We knew that we needed to start league play strong, and treat every opponent the same,” Jocelyn McLaughlin said. “There’s a level of trust that we all have with one another. Our game flowed really well, our chemistry was a lot better, we were hitting our shots and executed really well.”
Circleville returns to action on Thursday at home against Bloom-Carroll, while Amanda-Clearcreek travels to Liberty Union.
“We’ve been in that position before, having to battle like we did in the second set. And that’s only going to make us better,” Peyton McLaughlin said. “We just have to continue taking things point-by-point. It’s only up from here.”
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