Sports
Ace Nation: Nelsonville-York tops Wellston in a three-set sweep on senior night
By: Taylor MorrisBy: Taylor Morris
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BUCHTEL, Ohio (WOUB) — The Nelsonville-York Buckeyes took on the Wellston Golden Rockets in a TVC Ohio matchup last night. It was also senior night for the Buckeyes, who celebrated their two seniors, Lexi Warren and Katie Mckinney. The Buckeyes swept the Golden Rockets in straight sets.
The first set saw back-and-forth action between both teams. Wellston jumped out to an early nine to thirteen lead after two aces from Tiffany Barnett. The Buckeyes stayed close, and a kill from Lexi Warren tied the set at 19 apiece.
The set continued to be neck-and-neck, with several errors from both teams keeping the score close. Eventually, an ace from Kinslie Lanning put the Buckeyes up 26 to 25. Wellston called a timeout to try and regroup, but the momentum stayed in Nelsonville-York’s favor. A kill from Katie Mckinney and a kill from Madi Pidcock sent the first set in the Buckeyes’ favor, 28 to 26.
The Buckeyes kept the momentum from their first set win and came out on fire in the second set. An ace from Ava Nungester and several Wellston errors allowed the Buckeyes to jump out to an early nine to three lead. From there, they could not recover, and the Buckeyes continued to dominate the set. Three consecutive aces from Nungester and a kill from Pidcock set the second set in their favor, twenty-five to nine.
The Buckeyes kept their foot on the gas coming into the third set, jumping out to another quick lead after kills from Mckinney and Warren. The Golden Rockets were able to claw their way back within three points after an ace from Reece Carr.
From there, Warren took over for the Buckeyes, scoring five aces in a row and forcing Wellston to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, Warren had three more aces, totaling eight for just the third set alone.
“Lexi went off tonight. Front row and back row, she was unbelievable,” Dicken said. “She really was just in the zone, and when Lexi gets in the zone, she’s hard to stop.”
Finally, a kill from Cat Dixon and a tipped ball from Pidcock closed out the set. The Buckeyes took the third set 25 to 12 and swept the match three to zero.
The Buckeyes look to keep this momentum going into tournaments as they face Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington on October 14. The Golden Rockets look to bounce back in their final regular season matchup against River Valley on Thursday.