Sports
Ace Nation: Buckeyes battle to five-set victory over Bulldogs
By: Grace Shipman
Posted on:
THE PLAINS, Ohio (WOUB)-The Nelsonville-York Buckeyes secured a win against the Athens Bulldogs before moving into tournament season in an action-packed five-set game on Monday night.
The first set started off with plenty of energy as both teams’ student sections showed up with plenty of support for both sides of the net. This game would determine who will take the conference. Nelsonville-York’s Chloee Vohlken took some strong swings at the net and woke up Athens’s back row. The Buckeyes took an early lead in the game with aggressive plays. Delaney Dean: a force to be reckoned with in the back row covering all corners of the court. Athens was falling behind but used the Buckeye’s service errors to their advantage, but in the end, it was not enough, Nelsonville-York taking the first set 25 to 19.
Moving into the second set Rylee Toadvine had some fiery kills for Athens, keeping them close with Nelsonville-York for most of the set. Athen’s Alexa Reed revved up her serving game with four aces in the set. However, Nelsonville lost communication halfway through the set, letting Toadvine pummel them with kills. Nelsonville-York’s inability to set up led Athens to take the second set 25 to 14.
Entering the third set, both teams, with one set apiece, were determined to take the lead, knowing the stakes of this game. Nelsonville’s Kyleigh Warren turned up the heat with four aces to start off the set, leaving the Bulldogs to call an early timeout and recollect. Both teams battled hard for every single point as the crowd erupted after every major rally. Athen’s libero Grace Inboden had a crucial part in back row defense as well as some aces from the serving line as Mabel Monday got some clutch blocks to swing the momentum in their favor. With the teams being tied at five different points in the game, the energy between the two opponents shifted from one side of the court to the other. Eventually, Reed took control of the game and finished off the set with an explosive kill, ending the third set 26 to 24 Athens.
Advancing into the fourth set, Nelsonville’s Megan Booth had some strategically placed tips to the other side of the net, exploiting the Bulldog’s weak spots on the court. Both teams were neck and neck until the Bulldogs had some missed hits and the Buckeyes’ Gianna Dixon seized control of the net, forcing Athens to call a timeout to break the Buckeyes rhythm. After the timeout, the Bulldogs began to slowly creep back into the game with fast-paced, competitive rallies from both teams. The Buckeyes began to take control when Warren came through with three crucial kills to end the set. Nelsonville took the fourth set 25 to 19.
Head Coach of Nelsonville-York, Wayne Dicken had some words regarding how important this win will be for them.
“We won the TVC the last two years, so our biggest goal was to repeat as TVC champions. Right now, we are tied with Athens, and we will see what happens there Thursday.”
“I think it’s a good start off to tournaments,” says Warren, “it leads us into tournaments bringing all the energy that we had during this entire game and to leave the whole season on a good note.”
In the fifth set both the teams and fans were pumped and ready. The Buckeyes turned the pressure onto the Bulldogs with Dixon and Stalder being a power duo at the net for blocks at the net and Booth’s smartly placed tips to give the team a boost. Athens’ Maeve Schwarzel responded by attacking their back row with some powerful aces. However, Warren wrapped up the set for the Buckeyes with three kills to finish it off. The Buckeyes took the game 15 to 10 giving them at least a share of the TVC-Ohio title. They could win outright if the Bulldogs lose on Thursday.
Athens will travel to play Alexander on Thursday and Nelsonville-York looks ahead to tournament play as they take on the winner of Lynchburg-Clay and Valley on October 23rd.