McClain Lady Tigers win final 3 sets to defeat host Hillsboro
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
HILLSBORO — The McClain Lady Tigers trailed by two sets and were one set loss away from losing to their Frontier Athletic Conference and Highland County rival, but they rallied to win the final three sets to defeat the Lady Indians, 3-2 in the five-set match Thursday.
Hillsboro won the first set at 25-21 and followed with a set two win at 25-17. McClain battled to a tough 25-22 set three win, then came a hard-fought 26-24 win in the fourth set, tying the match at 2-2. In the fifth set, the Lady Tigers won by a 15-13 score.
“This was a good one, and I always tell the girls that when we get to the rivalry game to be prepared because Hillsboro is going to throw everything at us, especially with it being their senior night, and they are a good team,” MHS head coach Taylor Alsop said. “I knew we were coming off a big win against Chillicothe, but that didn’t mean anything for this game because we knew we had to be prepared.”
[[In-content Ad]]
After HHS won the first set by four points, the second set was nearly as close with HHS holding on to a 9-6 lead. As the second set continued, the Lady Indians maintained the lead at 15-10, and a point from Hillsboro’s Abby Brown left HHS in front at 17-11.
The Lady Tigers (7-13) called a timeout, but following the timeout HHS added to their lead with Dean spiking the ball to the MHS side of the court, eventually building a 20-12 lead, and again the Lady Tigers called a timeout.
McClain’s Jaelyn Pitzer kept the Lady Tigers in the set with a string of points off her serves for MHS, bringing MHS to a 22-14 deficit. In the end of the second set, the Lady Indians were too strong, with Paige Loudin scoring a point at the net for the eight-point set two win.
“My girls played with a lot of heart tonight, and they really came together and did well,” HHS head coach Nichole Dickey said. “All night, the girls only missed 10 serves. This is just a heartbreaker because it is senior night.
“This was their last home game, and it is a tough loss. Again, the girls fought hard, they played well, and at the net we were on fire for a while. It was a good team effort from the whole unit.”
For HHS on senior night, Katie Condo had 25 assists, Abby Brown had six kills and Paige Loudin had 10 kills.
MHS battled to win set three at 25-22, with the score being tied just twice. MHS started the third set with a hit at the net from Iva Easter, plus points off a block and hit by Cierra Bolender, eventually leading 6-1 with HHS calling a timeout.
“In the third set, I told them to quit worrying about their surroundings and just play our game,” Alsop said when asked about the third set. “We switched sides, and I told them to start moving their feet and we went from there.”
The closest set played was the fourth set when both rivals went into extra points to determine the set winner. McClain led most of the fourth set with a point at the net by Easter moving their lead to 15-12, and later the Lady Indians had a surge of scoring from Abby Brown, Hope Middleton and Gracie Dean to make it a three-point differential at 18-15.
After MHS added a couple more points to their total, Middleton, Dean and Brown of Hillsboro battled to take the lead at 21-20, forcing the Lady Tigers to call a timeout. Following the timeout and HHS having the one-point lead, the score was tied at 21, but HHS built a small lead to 24-22 following points from Dean and Middleton.
MHS didn’t blink as they continued to take on their rival, eventually tying the score at 24 with the help of a point scored. The final two points of set four came with the play of Easter, who scored points 25 and 26 with plays at the net for the Lady Tigers, tying the match at 2-2.
“Iva’s last two points really helped us out, and she was really smart about where she hit the ball,” Alsop said. “She wasn’t trying to hit the ball super hard, but hitting her spots.”
The fifth set was also full of competitiveness and excitement with the Lady Indians jumping out to an early 2-1 lead, only to see the set go back and forth with tied scores from 2-2 all the way to 13-13. At one point, MHS held a 7-5 lead (after the score was tied at 5-5) with points from a Bolender serve and a point by Pitzer.
HHS (4-17) later tied the score at 7-7 with a point from a ball tipped at the net by Condo. From there, MHS had points by Evelyn Vanzant and Easter for a 10-8 lead, as those points were scored at the net. HHS rallied back with a hit by Dean and an ace from Emma Birkhimer, tying the score at 10-10.
HHS took a one-point advantage with another ace by Birkhimer, only to see MHS add a point. The Lady Indians eventually took the lead again at 13-12, with Middleton having a timely block against the Lady Tigers.
MHS had a rally of their own to end the match with them not only tying the score at 13, but they had a block by Maddy Crawford to take the lead. They won the match with the two-point differential as they scored the 15th point to win the match.
“That final set made it tough because I wanted to call a timeout, and then I thought I’d be throwing off the momentum of the girls,” Alsop said. “If I want to call a timeout, I like to see where my girls are at. Usually I’ll look for my captain Cierra, and she’ll let me know how the girls are feeling out on the court.”
For the match, McClain was led in serving by Vanzant and Bolender with four aces each, while teammates Easter and Eakins each had two aces.
Pitzer led MHS with 12 kills, followed by Bolender with 11 kills, Easter with seven kills and Eakins with six kills.
Ashley Hardesty was the passing leader for the Lady Tigers at 50-66, while Pitzer was 39-52 and Vanzant finished 10-11.
Crawford and Eakins each finished with a block, and Kaleigh Easter totaled 35 assists.
“Everybody had an all-around great game,” Alsop said. “Jaelyn had a great game for us, Kaleigh did well with setting and Ashley was going after everything.
“Cierra was smart where she placed the ball, and Evelyn was cleaning up the court. I wanted to use her in the fifth set, but she used up all her sets with the JV game too.”
Hillsboro won the first set at 25-21 and followed with a set two win at 25-17. McClain battled to a tough 25-22 set three win, then came a hard-fought 26-24 win in the fourth set, tying the match at 2-2. In the fifth set, the Lady Tigers won by a 15-13 score.
“This was a good one, and I always tell the girls that when we get to the rivalry game to be prepared because Hillsboro is going to throw everything at us, especially with it being their senior night, and they are a good team,” MHS head coach Taylor Alsop said. “I knew we were coming off a big win against Chillicothe, but that didn’t mean anything for this game because we knew we had to be prepared.”
[[In-content Ad]]
After HHS won the first set by four points, the second set was nearly as close with HHS holding on to a 9-6 lead. As the second set continued, the Lady Indians maintained the lead at 15-10, and a point from Hillsboro’s Abby Brown left HHS in front at 17-11.
The Lady Tigers (7-13) called a timeout, but following the timeout HHS added to their lead with Dean spiking the ball to the MHS side of the court, eventually building a 20-12 lead, and again the Lady Tigers called a timeout.
McClain’s Jaelyn Pitzer kept the Lady Tigers in the set with a string of points off her serves for MHS, bringing MHS to a 22-14 deficit. In the end of the second set, the Lady Indians were too strong, with Paige Loudin scoring a point at the net for the eight-point set two win.
“My girls played with a lot of heart tonight, and they really came together and did well,” HHS head coach Nichole Dickey said. “All night, the girls only missed 10 serves. This is just a heartbreaker because it is senior night.
“This was their last home game, and it is a tough loss. Again, the girls fought hard, they played well, and at the net we were on fire for a while. It was a good team effort from the whole unit.”
For HHS on senior night, Katie Condo had 25 assists, Abby Brown had six kills and Paige Loudin had 10 kills.
MHS battled to win set three at 25-22, with the score being tied just twice. MHS started the third set with a hit at the net from Iva Easter, plus points off a block and hit by Cierra Bolender, eventually leading 6-1 with HHS calling a timeout.
“In the third set, I told them to quit worrying about their surroundings and just play our game,” Alsop said when asked about the third set. “We switched sides, and I told them to start moving their feet and we went from there.”
The closest set played was the fourth set when both rivals went into extra points to determine the set winner. McClain led most of the fourth set with a point at the net by Easter moving their lead to 15-12, and later the Lady Indians had a surge of scoring from Abby Brown, Hope Middleton and Gracie Dean to make it a three-point differential at 18-15.
After MHS added a couple more points to their total, Middleton, Dean and Brown of Hillsboro battled to take the lead at 21-20, forcing the Lady Tigers to call a timeout. Following the timeout and HHS having the one-point lead, the score was tied at 21, but HHS built a small lead to 24-22 following points from Dean and Middleton.
MHS didn’t blink as they continued to take on their rival, eventually tying the score at 24 with the help of a point scored. The final two points of set four came with the play of Easter, who scored points 25 and 26 with plays at the net for the Lady Tigers, tying the match at 2-2.
“Iva’s last two points really helped us out, and she was really smart about where she hit the ball,” Alsop said. “She wasn’t trying to hit the ball super hard, but hitting her spots.”
The fifth set was also full of competitiveness and excitement with the Lady Indians jumping out to an early 2-1 lead, only to see the set go back and forth with tied scores from 2-2 all the way to 13-13. At one point, MHS held a 7-5 lead (after the score was tied at 5-5) with points from a Bolender serve and a point by Pitzer.
HHS (4-17) later tied the score at 7-7 with a point from a ball tipped at the net by Condo. From there, MHS had points by Evelyn Vanzant and Easter for a 10-8 lead, as those points were scored at the net. HHS rallied back with a hit by Dean and an ace from Emma Birkhimer, tying the score at 10-10.
HHS took a one-point advantage with another ace by Birkhimer, only to see MHS add a point. The Lady Indians eventually took the lead again at 13-12, with Middleton having a timely block against the Lady Tigers.
MHS had a rally of their own to end the match with them not only tying the score at 13, but they had a block by Maddy Crawford to take the lead. They won the match with the two-point differential as they scored the 15th point to win the match.
“That final set made it tough because I wanted to call a timeout, and then I thought I’d be throwing off the momentum of the girls,” Alsop said. “If I want to call a timeout, I like to see where my girls are at. Usually I’ll look for my captain Cierra, and she’ll let me know how the girls are feeling out on the court.”
For the match, McClain was led in serving by Vanzant and Bolender with four aces each, while teammates Easter and Eakins each had two aces.
Pitzer led MHS with 12 kills, followed by Bolender with 11 kills, Easter with seven kills and Eakins with six kills.
Ashley Hardesty was the passing leader for the Lady Tigers at 50-66, while Pitzer was 39-52 and Vanzant finished 10-11.
Crawford and Eakins each finished with a block, and Kaleigh Easter totaled 35 assists.
“Everybody had an all-around great game,” Alsop said. “Jaelyn had a great game for us, Kaleigh did well with setting and Ashley was going after everything.
“Cierra was smart where she placed the ball, and Evelyn was cleaning up the court. I wanted to use her in the fifth set, but she used up all her sets with the JV game too.”