Brock Netter, Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by Holzer Health System.
WHEELERSBURG — Coming into Tuesday’s match, through 21 sets of volleyball, Gallia Academy had been untouched and unblemished.
And for a good while, it appeared that was going to be the case again. But the Blue Angels ran into their first bit of adversity and felt the pressure of a big moment.
But behind veteran leadership and a calming demeanor, they regrouped and dug deep to keep their perfect record intact as they knocked off Wheelersburg in four sets — 25-12, 25-18, 31-33, 25-19 — handing the Pirates their first loss of the season.
“I thought our serve-receive and defense looked really great tonight,” Gallia Academy coach Ashton Webb said. “We’ve had to battle at some points during a set, but going four sets was something new for us, so it was great to see how the girls would handle that situation against a great team like Wheelersburg. We’re really happy with the outcome, but there are some things that we have to keep working on.”
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA
The Blue Angels (9-0) had some nerves coming into Pirate territory, but those reservations quickly faded away.
Piper Pugh, Aubree Frazier, Aspen Barnes and Abby Clark all registered early kills, powering an 8-2 start in the opening set.
Wheelersburg’s Alyssa Mullins posted a kill, and teammate Lainey Skeenes added four more to bring the Pirates to within 10-7. But the Blue Angels went into another gear.
Three more kills from Pugh, one from Clark, and an ace from Chloe Bennett pushed the lead to 16-7 before it hit double digits as GA took a 1-0 match lead.
“We were definitely nervous coming into the game, but so fired up at the same time,” Clark said. “There’s a lot of work we’ve been putting in, and there’s a level of trust that we have in one another to step on the gas and play our game.”
After seeing what GA had in its arsenal, Wheelersburg (8-1) understood it had to dig much deeper than it previously had all season.
Both teams went back-and-forth to open the second, playing to a 9-9 tie, until a pair of kills from Pugh and Frazier, and a block from Rylee Saunders, capped a 6-1 run for a 15-10 lead.
Despite later trailing 20-13, the Pirates still had some fight left as Laikyn Hall served an ace and Laynee Walker added a block, spearheading a 4-0 run to cut the deficit to 20-17.
However, the Blue Angels’ firepower was too much down the stretch as Gracyn Clark posted a kill before Bennett ripped three straight aces to end the second set.
PHOTOS: Images from Gallia Academy’s win over Wheelersburg
“As an underclassmen, I look up to Chloe so much. She has the next-play mindset and is constantly talking on the court,” Gallia Academy’s Rylee Saunders said. “There’s a lot of her game that I try to channel, she helps me out so much and it’s great to have her on our side.”
In the early stages of the third, it appeared that a sweep was about to happen. Saunders, Frazier and Barnes all had kills to give Gallia Academy a 7-4 lead.
Wheelersburg continued to battle and hang around, forcing ties at 10, 14, 16, 18, 20 and 21, until two kills from Pugh and one from Frazier set up Gallia with match point.
However, Walker notched a kill and Gallia committed a violation to tie the score at 24-24.
It was a pure clash of the titans from that point on as neither team could finish off the other. The energy was at an all-time high as the set reached 31-31.
Wheelersburg tallied the next point, and Mullins delivered with a set-point kill to send the game into a fourth set — handing the Blue Angles their first set loss of the season.
“We had 13 hitting errors in that third set alone, and you’re not going to win any set like that,” Webb said. “Wheelersburg deserves a lot of credit though. They’re a great program with very talented players who are very well-coached. It sucked to drop that set, but it was something that I think we needed to happen to see how we bounce back, especially in an atmosphere that felt very tournament-like.”
With momentum on the Pirates’ side, they were on the attack as Mullins, Skeenes, Walker and Katie McClure aided them to an early 9-5 lead.
Pugh began the GA comeback with three kills, followed by one from Gracyn Clark, to take a 12-10 lead. Pugh continued to find the holes in the defense, but the Pirates kept fighting and trimmed GA’s lead to 19-18, following a block from Walker.
In the end though, the Blue Angels’ height at the net was too much to overcome. Abby Clark had a block and two kills before a final kill from Pugh sealed the deal.
“We realized that we have to get our stuff together going into that fourth set while also not adding extra pressure to the game,” Gallia Academy’s Aubree Frazier said. “Once we were able to breathe and lock back in, we were able to take some stress off our shoulders. One thing about us is that we make sure to keep our energy high and have that level of chemistry that we know we have each other’s backs.”
Statistically, Pugh led the Blue Angels with 27 kills alongside 11 digs and two blocks. Frazier had 19 kills and two blocks, and Barnes added 12 kills and 15 digs, and Gracyn Clark finished with 60 assists and 20 digs.
Wheelersburg was led by Skeenes with 14 kills, nine digs and two blocks, while Mullins added 13 kills and seven digs. Mati Jennings also helped out, totaling 38 assists and five digs.
Gallia Academy returned to action on Thursday and swept Coal Grove while Wheelersburg picked up wins over Fairland and South Point on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
The Blue Angels are back in action on Tuesday, traveling to Chesapeake, while the Pirates play again the same evening, opening SOC play with Portsmouth West.
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