Sports
Ace Nation: Tomcats Pounce to Victory Over Eagles
By: Grace Shipman
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BELPRE, Ohio (WOUB) – The Trimble Tomcats added on another exciting win on Tuesday night as they faced off with the Belpre Golden Eagles.
The Trimble Tomcats came out swinging against the Belpre Eagles, setting the tone early in an electric first set. Bailee Bickley was unstoppable at the net, hammering down powerful kills that kept the Eagles scrambling, while Alyvia Portier lit up the scoreboard with a string of powerful aces. Belpre tried to retaliate and rally late in the set, but Trimble’s momentum was too strong, and they closed it out and took the lead early, ending the first set 25 to 14.
The second set started off promising for the Tomcats. They were moving well, communicating and battling through intense rallies, building a comfortable lead as they reached game point at 24. But then things got too comfortable, and the momentum started to slip away. A missed serve opened the door for Belpre, and four straight serve-receive errors gave the Eagles life. Suddenly, what looked like a smooth finish turned tense as Belpre closed the gap with five unanswered points.
During Belpre’s surge, Trimble’s coach called a timeout to settle her team and refocus their energy. “We know what we need to do,” she said. “And it starts with a good pass, set and hit.”
The timeout proved effective. The Tomcats regrouped under pressure, came back focused and closed out the set 25 to 19, keeping their match lead intact heading into the final set.
With the game on the line in the third set, Trimble refocused and came out on fire. Determined not to let the match slip away, the Tomcats turned up the pressure with aggressive serving, collecting five total aces in the set and showing dominant net play. This time, they never let up. The energy in the gym was electric as Trimble stormed ahead early and never looked back, feeding off the crowd’s excitement with every point.
At match point, Brooklyn Burdette sealed the win with an ace, closing out the set 25 to 14 and giving the Tomcats a strong finish to claim the game.
