Lady Tigers volleyball sweeps Lady Lions
LEESBURG — The McClain Lady Tigers visited the Fairfield Lady Lions in a Highland County non-conference showdown on Monday, and they returned home to Greenfield with a three-set match win over their foes from Leesburg.
McClain won the the three sets by scores of 25-16, 25-11 and 25-15 for the sweep and non-league match victory. The win moves MHS to an 8-3 overall record on the season.
“We played two games during fair week, and we got back at it (Monday), but that week did affect us a little bit,” MHS head coach Emma Gall said. “We made sure we got in the gym in the morning for the week. As for tonight, we played well.”
The first set of the match saw the score tied three times, with the final time being at 3-3. MHS gained a 4-3 advantage off a point by Malea Montavon, and from there, MHS never gave back the lead in the opening set.
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MHS built a 7-4 lead off serves by Chayden Pitzer, but FHS came back to a 7-6 score following a point by Blake Adams of the Lady Lions. A few minutes later, Shelby Turner brought FHS to within a point of the visiting Lady Tigers with an ace.
The Lady Tigers eventually took back control with a 13-8 advantage with a spike from Pitzer, and following serves by Liz Kegley and another big spike from Pitzer, MHS was in front 21-13.
“Liz and Hunter [Scott] did what we wanted them to do, and Lexie [Barton] was on the floor too, but overall it was a good team win,” MHS head coach Emma Gall said.
From there, FHS got a little closer, scoring their 16th point of the first set off a hit by Hannah Putnam, but the set ended with McClain gaining their 25th point off a tip at the front of the net by Hunter Scott for the 25-16 win.
In the second set of the Highland County match, where MHS won 25-11, the set tied on four separate occasions early on at scores of 1-1, 2-2, 4-4 and 5-5, as the tied five-point score took away a one-point lead held by Fairfield as FHS broke the aforementioned 4-4 tied score with an ace from Adams.
MHS later took a 6-5 lead following the Lady Lions hitting their own side of the net, and from there, the Lady Tigers never relinquished the lead as they gained points from Pitzer and Montavon to increase their lead to 10-6.
Later for MHS, Kegley added to McClain’s lead for a 13-7 lead, and as the match progressed, MHS broke away from FHS, with Pitzer spiking the ball to the Lady Lion side of the court for the final point and 14-point second set victory.
The third set saw McClain and Fairfield tied at 1-1 and 8-8, with the final tied score broken by a play at the net by Scott. After gaining the 9-8 advantage, McClain again never lost the lead, though Fairfield did get to within two points of tying the score on a serve by Turner.
FHS again got close to the Lady Tigers with a point at the net by Ciara Knisley, but MHS eventually built an 18-12 lead.
Fairfield’s 13th point of the third set saw them gain a point off a big-time spike from Kaiti White, but eventually MHS scored the game- and match-winning point with a spike from Scott for the 25-15 win.
In JV play, McClain won 2-1, with FHS winning set one by a 27-25 score, though MHS came back in the JV match with a set two score of 25-14 and set three score of 27-25.
The Lady Tigers play in a South Central Ohio League match on Tuesday as they travel to face Highland County foe, Hillsboro.