Marietta’s Ali Buckley, Taylor Kercher, Tori Dawson and Anna Ritter, from left, watch the Tigers’ Ohio Valley Athletic game in Morgantown inside the ECO Center at Ohio University Eastern on Saturday morning. All smiles after match point in a conference Class 5A sweep. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
CLAIRSVILLE, ST. – Marietta’s Ali Buckley, with a little help from friends, won the Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Class 5A Championship Saturday morning inside the ECO Center at Eastern Ohio University. She had a match-high 15 kills for the third-seeded Tigers in the match. They defeated No. 1 Morgantown 25-17, 25-21, 25-15.
Taylor Kercher had 29 assists and 14 goals for head coach Ron Kidder’s Tigers, along with liberos Regan Kercher (six goals), Haley Wilkinson (three aces, three assists, four kills, six digs) and Anna. – Ritter (7 kills, 2 blocks, 10 digs), Emma Middleton (7 kills, 2 assists, 10 digs), Tori Dawson (3 aces, 4 kills, 4 digs).
“What an effort.” Coach Kidder said the program won its first OVAC title after losing to the Mohegans in the championship match two years ago. “The girls have worked hard. They lost to them early in the season. It’s a good game. We’ve got to work on some things and come out here and give it everything we can.” Said.
“It’s a game. Have fun, and these kids have never lost it. They’re hungry. They’re hungry and they want to win championship after championship. They’re just like lions. They just want to be beasts, and they’re fun to watch when they’re playing.”
The Tigers, who have earned the No. 1 seed in the district tournament, will play No. 4 Athens/No. 4 seed on Monday. On Thursday at 7pm inside Sutton Gymnasium, Unioto never trailed in the fifth set and won.
Three aces, three assists, four kills and one block as teammate Emma Middleton looks on during the Tigers’ sweep of Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Class 5A Morgantown inside the ECO Center on Saturday morning. , Marietta’s Haley Wilkinson, who had six digs, makes a pass at Ohio University East. (Photo courtesy of Jay Bennett)
Buckley got things going early with a trio of kills, and Wilkinson led the Tigers to 8-2 thanks to five service times, including an ace.
“Our passing and serving was much better than the last time we played.” Buckley credited himself with adding an ace, two blocks and nine digs. “Our defense was really good today and we couldn’t have done that without practicing and working hard, so our hard work paid off.
“I feel like our bond is really good. We’re all literally best friends. There’s no issues between us, we play well, we just have good chemistry. ”
Morgantown first-year head coach Abigail Wolfe, playing without the services of first-team All-State senior setter Audrey Buck, called a timeout after Wilkinson’s hard hit made it 15-7. .
“Honestly, it’s crazy.” Wilkinson, who transferred from Wood County Christian, talked about winning OVAC honors. “Coming out of a very small school atmosphere and into this great group of upperclassmen, I think we played our hearts out.
Marietta’s Ali Buckley hits a game-high as setter Taylor Kercher looks on during the Tigers’ Ohio Valley Athletic Conference Class 5A game against Morgantown inside the ECO Center at Ohio University Eastern on Saturday morning. Recorded 15 kills. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)
“We’re all in it for each other and we’ve put a lot of effort into every ball and our mentality all season. I think we’ve shown on the court that we really want it and we want to do that.” I was able to obtain it.”
Poor serve-receive at set point allowed Middleton to easily record a downspike in the best-of-five match.
“We’ve been dealing with some injuries the last three weeks.” Coach Wolf said he had eight kills from Paige Brink, two aces from Abby Paulsen and Madison Wisman, four kills from Jatta Iquinto and nine assists each from Izzy Mara and Dori Heiskell. “There’s a lot of different rotations, a lot of different things going on.
“The kids are coping the best they can. It was a completely different rotation today. We haven’t been 6-2 all year. We’ve been 5-1 all year. We had to switch everything up last night against North Allegheny (in the third set when Buck was injured) and here we are. It was a quick response.”
Wisman’s serve gave the Mohegans a 3-0 lead in the second set, but Dawson’s ace gave the Tigers a 10-7 lead.
Middleton’s ace gave the Tigers a 13-11 lead, but Brink sank one and Wisman’s back-to-back aces put Morgantown up 14-13.
Thanks to Karcher’s ace, the Orange & Black team took a 15-14 lead, but Coach Kidder’s program prevented them from taking the lead completely until 21-20 due to Mohegan’s service error.
Ritter’s tip kill and a Mohegans attack error on Buckley’s serve kept the Tigers one set away from the title.
The third set was even at seven, with Marietta winning for good on a Morgantown service error, and Buckley following with an ace. Middleton then scored six straight points, including a block by Ritter from Poulsen, and the Tigers doubled up on the No. 1 seed, 16-8.
A block from Buckley and serve from Dawson gave Marietta a match point.
“One game at a time, keep your nerves under control and keep moving forward.” Buckley said of the keys to the rest of his campaign.
Coach Kidder added “We have a lot of tough kids at every position. Morgantown is a tough team. We come out to play. Now we have to refocus for the tournament.”
Morgantown is still two weeks away from entering postseason play, but Senior Night is currently up in the air.
“That will be decided from now on.” Coach Wolf said. “Our senior night was supposed to be Tuesday, but there are no buses available in Park (Aasburg) South.
“We’re trying to come up with a new plan. Please don’t count us out. We have a big bench and we’ve dealt with these issues before.”
