Sports
Ace Nation: Eagles soar to victory over Tomcats
By: Ally Hall
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CHILLICOTHE, Ohio (WOUB) — The Eastern Eagles took on the Trimble Tomcats with a riveting four-set win in the second tournament round on Tuesday night.
The Tomcats started off hot with kills from McKenzie Eing and Bailey Bickley and an ace from Abby Henry. The Eagles and Tomcats went back and forth in an offensive battle. Once the Eagles came soaring back, Trimble called a timeout at seventeen to twelve. Tomcat Brooklyn Burdette claws into the blocks of the Eagles with multiple kills. Eastern calls a timeout once Trimble ties the set at twenty to twenty. Rattling the Tomcats, another timeout called at twenty-three to twenty. The Tomcats could not finish, and the Eagles take the set twenty-five to twenty-one.
The second set was the Tomcats’ revenge story. Multiple Tomcat kills led the crowd to a frenzy. Up eleven to fourteen, the Eagles called a timeout to seek a hole in the Tomcat’s offense. Eing responded with two tip-kills on the net to send the Eagles back to their nest. Trimble dominating at twelve and nineteen, the Eagles spoke once again to fire up their defense. Eagle Braelyn Simpson returned with an electric block to set the tone until the next Tomcat timeout at eighteen to twenty-two. Eagle Makenzie Robertson slammed three kills in a row to send Trimble into their last timeout at twenty-three to twenty-four. With a small back-and-forth, Eing ends the set with a kill to the back corner to win it twenty-four to twenty-six.
Set three was kept quiet. The Tomcat’s energy dwindled with many errors. The coaches of Trimble called a timeout at nine to three to bring their spark back. The Eagles’ offense overtook the Tomcats. Eagle Brooklynn Barkey and Simpson pounded a few kills towards the Tomcats. Their offense overtook Trimble, ending the set twenty-five to eleven.
The Eagles weren’t done yet. Their offense soared throughout the set, but the Tomcats’ spirit was brought back. Bickley’s two aces in a row took the Eagles to their first timeout at six to nine. An offensive exchange took the fourth set into a tight game. Although the Tomcats’ spark came back, it was not enough to push the game into five sets, losing twenty-three to twenty-five.
Eagle setter Kinslie Well celebrated her 1,000th assist during the game. Helping her team move forward to the third round of tournaments.
Trimble head coach Alicia Drake spoke about her team as a first-year coach and was proud of how far they have gone compared to their previous season.
“I’m proud of the growth we made from the beginning to the end. Coming from a losing season last year and being able to be middle of the pack.”
The Eastern Eagles hope to continue their tournament run on Saturday afternoon against TVC rival, the Southern Tornadoes at Southeastern High School. Congratulations to the Trimble Tomcats as they finish their season with a record of 11-13.