John Bruce, Editor
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by Holzer Health System.
KINNIKINNICK — Already down a key player in junior Kerrigan Hill, Zane Trace faced another pre-game injury before its home match with Westfall on Thursday evening.
But due to their depth and the outstanding play of junior Karlee Snavely, the Pioneers didn’t miss a beat as they rolled to a straight-set win over the Mustangs.
“We knew going into the game that we were going to be without Kerrigan, but we had a couple of pre-game injuries that we had to reassess,” Zane Trace coach Ashton Ward said of her team’s adjustments. “We had a completely different lineup going into the game, but they adapted great.”
CREDIT: Brock Netter/SOSA
It certainly helps to have a player the caliber of Snavely to help make that adjustment.
Following a Westfall service error to begin the match, Snavely hammered home three kills and served two aces to push the Pioneers (7-1, 4-0 SVC) out to a 10-2 start.
The Mustangs made a slight run halfway through the set behind a pair of aces from Joni Snyder, but ZT was able to get Snavely back to the front row and put the set away.
A back set from Lydia Jarrell to Snavely gave the Pioneers a 25-12 opening game victory.
After the dominant opening set, the rest of the Pioneers’ depth showed themselves in a wild second game that featured 10 ties and several lead changes. Snavely got things started at the net, but once she went to the back row, sophomores Alexa Smith and Paityn Newman came alive on the attack to give Zane Trace a 12-9 lead.
To Westfall’s credit, the Mustangs (3-6, 2-2 SVC) kept battling, especially at the service line.
Kenzie Cook served an ace to pull even at 12, before Ellie Heath perfectly placed three consecutive serves, all for aces and a 17-14 advantage for the Mustangs. Zane Trace stormed back to retake the lead after an ace from Snavely, but Westfall answered with a kill from Jill Butcher, boosting the Mustangs to take a 20-19 lead.
Snavely found the court for another kill, followed by an ace from Leah Wiseman, a block from Smith, and a kill from Newman to put the Mustangs on the ropes. But once again, the Mustangs showed their resolve, eventually taking a 24-23 advantage after kills from Megan Wolfe and Kendall Moehl.
To take home the set, the Pioneers went to ol’ reliable, finding Snavely for a back row attack for the kill to stave off set-point. With momentum, Zane Trace forced a pair of hitting errors with great timing at the net to win the set at 26-24.
“Hitting has always been my favorite,” Snavely said of her expanded hitting role as a junior. “So I’m really happy that I get to do back row attacks now since I didn’t really get to at the beginning. My setters are great and they know exactly where to set me, so that really helps, too.”
The third set saw a little bit of the same back-and-forth action of the third. But eventually, ZT’s hitting depth was too much for the Mustangs to handle.
Newman, Smith and Snavely all took passes from Jarrell and Wiseman to lead the Pioneers to a 25-20 victory for the sweep. All three hitters scored a kill in the final four points for the Pioneers, highlighted by Smith’s attack to finish off the win.
“We knew that [Westfall] was going to come out fighting,” Ward said of the Mustangs. “But our girls just dug in, played with excitement and saw them take charge and say, ‘This is our game.'”
The Pioneers continued their impressive run, despite several players playing in different positions.
“Karlee Snavely did a great job of being a leader, Macie Oakes and Lexi Barrows did a great job of stepping in,” Ward said of her team after the win. “Lydia and Paityn Newman stepped up since, without Kerrigan, we are down a hitter, they really all did their part.”
With the win, the Pioneers are still unbeaten through their first four SVC matches, giving them a one-game lead over Southeastern and Unioto — who they face in their league matches next week.
“It feels really good honestly. Playing in the SVC is hard and every night is different,” Ward said of the league’s parity. “You never know, but coming in we knew we were pretty young and inexperienced in spots. So just watching them step up and grow has been really cool to watch.”
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