Sports
Ace Nation: Spartan reach 1,000th kill threshold
By: Hailey Hollinger
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ALBANY, Ohio (WOUB) — The Alexander Spartans have been climbing the conference ladder lately, but one Spartan climbed the ladder of achievement on Thursday.
Alexander is currently tied with the Athens Bulldogs for second in the TVC-Ohio, with Nelsonville-York sitting in first with no conference losses. The Spartans’ opponent on Thursday was the Wellston Golden Rockets, who’re currently sixth in the conference.
Leading up to the game, anticipation was heavy as Spartan senior Lexi Grissett was expected to reach her 1,000th career kill. Before the match, Grissett had 988 kills, leaving her in need of 12 more to reach the milestone.
The first set started out close in score, but the Wellston Golden Rockets soon found themselves unable to return the serve. The Spartan attack crafted quite a scoring gap with aces from seniors Grissett and Macie Swart. The Spartans took the first set 25-11.
Grissett scored her third kill of the night at the start of the second set, leaving her only nine kills from her goal. Grissett made her mark throughout the game and went on a service run a little later, tallying three aces in a row to put Alexander up 11-6. The Golden Rockets continued to struggle with serve-receive in the second set, giving the Spartans the chance to pile on the points. Alexander went on to win the second set 25-13.
The Spartans were ecstatic going into the third set. They were ready for the win, and ready for teammate Grissett to have her moment. Not long into the set, Grissett hit her 1,000th career kill with a lift over the net. Grissett was set the ball time and time again, before getting this one over and letting it fall just in front of the net – right into open space.
The game was paused with ruptures of celebrations, and the accomplishment was announced to the gym. Grissett’s teammates were prepared with golden balloons spelling out the number, as well as a couple posters. Occasional line judge, but more importantly Grissett’s father, Steve Grissett, joined his daughter on the court with flowers to celebrate her accomplishment. Coach Jaime Lutz also celebrated with an excited Grissett along with her mom who is part of the coaching staff.
After resuming play, Alexander went on to win the last set 25 to 13, sweeping Wellston.
With victory celebrations complete, the team gathered with Grissett and a golden volleyball as a tribute to her achievement.
“I’m definitely relieved and happy at the same time,” said Grissett in an interview. “This is my last year here and this is something that I’ve been working towards for a while now. It’s just awesome to get it tonight, all my family came down, so it was just a great moment.”
On Monday, Grissett and the rest of the Spartan squad will play Logan, and Wellston will travel to Southern.