Sports
Lady Pioneers Pave their way to a Sectional Title
By: Demetrius Stark
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Both teams came out on all four cylinders, bringing the war to the forefront from the beginning. The Lady Buckeyes of Nelsonville-York came out strong, but it wasn’t enough to overpower the strength of Zane Trace’s Lady Pioneers.
The first set was back and forth, with Nelsonville-York’s Kyla Henderson getting kills early on, as well as Zane Trace’s Evie Bennett chipping in with a few hits of her own. NY’s Jessie Addis started off strong digging some fierce hits from the Zane Trace offense.
The score climbed evenly, with no clear-cut advantage emerging from either team. The score was 24-23 Nelsonville, but they were unable to seal the deal following an error. Possession went back and forth with the lead changing four different times past 25-25. Eventually, Zane Trace found the edge, winning the set 30-28.
In the second set the Lady Buckeyes were dominating with setter Alexis Bostater sharing the love with her three top hitters Henderson, Haley Hurd and Sidney Fick all getting kills.
The Lady Buckeye defense was led by Libero, Jessie Addis, cleaning up the back line against the Lady Pioneers. Addis on her own notched 14 successful digs in the 2nd set and played a pivotal role in NY’s success. The Lady Buckeyes held the lead through most of the second set and despite some late set heroics by Zane Trace, the Buckeyes prevailed 25-22.
The third set, however, was dominated by the Lady Pioneers. NY was unable to counter on sets, lacking communication on the floor. Trace’s Hannah Unger, who struggled with consistency early, stepped up in the final two sets and she racked up 7 kills on the Buckeyes who faltered at the net.
Between a few net violations and an inability to serve-receive, particularly against Bennett, the Lady Buckeyes struggled to set up any kind of offense as Bostater began to feel symptoms from her heart condition and was consequently not 100% for the third set. Zane Trace won the third set by a lopsided score of 25-10.
Bostater took a seat in the hopes of resting for the 5th and final set and was replaced by Libero Jessie Addis. She turned in her dark uniform for an orange jersey, becoming an offensive player, hoping to make a difference in the front line.
The back row managed to step up their play on serve-receive and made the 4th set far more competitive. The Lady Buckeye offense began running efficiently but the Lady Pioneers were ready and stepped up defensively.
Maddie Kann continued to set the ball as she had all game and was able to give her hitters great opportunities at the net. Trace and Nelsonville went neck and neck for most of the last set, however, Trace managed to pull out the set by a score of 25-23 thanks to more great service by Bennett, who both figuratively and literally, was throwing herself around the court for her team. Bennett and her Lady Pioneers meant business as they won the last set and the overall match.