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Two SVC volleyball teams out of the five that played for Division 3 District titles Saturday, advanced to the Sweet 16. They were Adena over Zane Trace and Huntington over Westfall. Southeastern fell to #3 state ranked Wheelersburg.
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ADENA BEAT ZANE TRACE (25-18, 25-17, 19-25, 35-33)
The Adena Warriors return to the regional volleyball tournament for the first time since 2016, outlasting Zane Trace in four sets. The fourth set was the talk of of the match, as Zane Trace overcame early deficits to nearly send the match to a fifth set. The Pioneers had four "set points" and Adena finally put the match away on their seventh set point for a wild 35-33 decision.
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Jenna Martin led the Adena attack with 14 kills and 2 blocks while Makenna Lovely had 13, Ellie Harper 9, Sydney Fogelsong 8, Hannah Burns 6 and Makaela Lovely and Olivia Riley each added 4. Camryn Carroll had 32 digs to lead the defense. Makenna Lovely had 19, Olivia Riley 15, Hope Garrison 12 and Ari DaRif 10. The Warriors served 4 aces with Garrison getting two.
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Zane Trace was led by Hannah Hale 18 and Lexi Scott with 12 kills, followed by Emily Allen's 10, 7 from Laynee Hill, 6 from Alli Bennett and 5 from Gracie McCullough. Lexi Betts and Bennett each dug the ball 22 times, Hill had 14 and 11 each for Elizabeth Harber and Kinley May. ZT had three aces.
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Adena improves to (18-7) after going (9-15) last year. They will face (25-0) Wheelersburg in the Logan Regional Semis Thursday.
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HUNTINGTON OVER WESTFALL (25-18, 18-25, 26-24, 26-24)
The Huntsmen took down the SVC regular season champs after falling the Mustangs in five sets and four sets during the season.
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Huntington built early leads in the opening set of 8-2 before Westfall rallied to tie the score at 16-16. That's when Huntington got on a run to outscore Westfall 9-2 for the opening win.
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The Mustangs led most of the second set to even the match at (1-1), seeing Huntington threaten at 20-17 before Westfall pulled away.
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Set 3 was the turning point, with Westfall leading 18-10 and later 23-19, Huntington battled back to tie the score at 23-23. The score went back and forth before Huntington won 26-24.
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Set 4 stayed tight throughout with no team getting leads of more than 2-3 points. Westfall's last lead was 22-21 only to see Huntington finish on a 5-2 run for the match win.
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Megan Steele led the offensive charge with 17 kills, followed by Allison Basye with 14. Katie Hirsch had 9. Alyssa Steele had 23 digs, Megan Steele 19, Basye 16, Harmony Henneberger 13 and Lauryl Shope 11. Huntington served 6 aces.
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Westfall's Kristin Phillips led all players with 20 kills and 4 blocks, while Marissa Mullins had 8, Josie Williams 7 and Claire Latham with 6. Latham had 17 digs, Lauren Daniels 13, Williams 12 and Phillips with 11. They also had 9 aces.
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(20-4) Westfall closes their season as SVC champs and district runner-up, while Huntington improves to (18-7) and now faces Berlin Hiland in the Logan Regionals, Thursday. Hiland beat Cambridge (3-1).
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WHEELERSBURG SWEPT SOUTHEASTERN 25-23, 25-16, 25-20)
The Panthers got off to a quick start behind the serving of Ally Skeens, building a 4-0 lead, then later 5-1. But, Burg's front line strength finally took control after trailing 17-11, to go on a 7-0 run for a one point lead. The score stayed close until 21-21, only to see Wheelersburg finish 4-2 for the opening set win.
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Set 2 was a Pirates runaway to start, building a lead of 9-3, before Southeastern came to life to cut it to 14-13. That's when Burg took off again and cruised to the 25-16 win.
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Set 3 had Southeastern out to another early lead until Wheelersburg drew even at 8-8, 15-15 and 19-19. The Pirates closed on a 6-1 run for the match victory.
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Wheelersburg was led by Kylee Barney's 17 kills, followed by Alli McQuay's 8, then 7 each from Emily Boggs, mallory Bergan and Ryleigh Meeker. McQuay led the defense with 26 digs and Burg had 5 aces.
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Southeastern saw senior Skylar Hice end her career with 13 kills and 17 digs. Ava Christopher had 7 kills, Hannah Lougheed and Lyndsey Skeens each had 5 kills. Skeens had 4 blocks and Lougheed also had 19 digs. Ameris Cooper had a team high 20 digs and the Panthers served 7 aces, with Ally Skeens leading with 6.
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Southeastern closed their season at (13-13 and Coach Jimmy Hutton told iHeart Media Sports after the match that he will be stepping down as Southeastern Volleyball coach, where he lead them to an SVC co-championship and a couple of regional tournament appearances, including one as runner-up.
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