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Ace Nation: Spartans roll into District Semi-Final after sweeping South Point

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ALBANY, Ohio (WOUB) — The Alexander Spartans opened tournament play on Thursday hosting the South Point Pointers. The 12-seeded Spartans came into this matchup with a 12-10 record on the year after finishing second in the Tri-Valley Conference. The 14-8 Pointers finished third in the Ohio Valley Conference and earning a 13 seed.

Energy was high from both teams in the first set, but the Spartans pulled ahead 11-5, thanks to great frontline offense and back-end defense from libero Trista Johnson. Five kills from Lexi Grissett helped the Spartans continue their dominance through the first set. Back-to-back kills from Meena Judes closed out the set 25-14.

The Spartans didn’t slow down there, and they took an early 10-4 lead with help from an ace and a kill by Macy Swart to open the set. The Pointers roared right back, going on a 12-6 run to cut the Spartans lead to just one. After the teams exchanged runs, the Pointers had a 22-21 lead going into the final break. But their streak of luck did not last. The Spartans went on a 4-0 run and took the set 25-22.

Girls High School Volleyball: Alexander Spartans' senior Macie Swart sets the ball behind her in front of the net. Photo credit: [Sophia Hiatt | WOUB]
Spartan Macie Swart sets the ball behind her [Sophia Hiatt | WOUB]
The third set began with the two teams trading points until Alexander started to take control. Grissett again had five kills, igniting the Spartans and helping them catch fire. Alexander maintained the lead, but South Point wasn’t going to give up that easily. A rally from the Pointers came up short, and the Spartans closed out the set 25-18.

Head Coach Jamie Lutz credited the win to the team’s resilience. “We had a motivational speaker a couple weeks ago,” said Lutz. “His big things was when you see adversity at your door run through it.”

Grissett finished the game with 16 kills, four blocks, and one ace. Swart took home four kills, and two aces. The Spartans improve to 13-10 on the year and move on to the district semifinal where they will tackle South Webster. First serve is set for Monday at 6 p.m. Waverly.