McClain volleyball wins in 3 games over host Hillsboro
Lead Summary
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
One day after not having the match they wanted, the McClain Lady Tigers bounced back in a big way by winning a Frontier Athletic Conference match Tuesday night, defeating the host Hillsboro Lady Indians in three straight games.
McClain won by scores of 25-15, 26-24 and 25-22 at Hillsboro. The win moves the Lady Tigers back to the .500 mark for the season overall at 8-8. In the FAC, McClain is 3-2.
“It was good today, and everything clicked for us,” McClain head coach Taylor Alsop said. “We went back to what we were doing at the beginning. We started moving our feet, we were talking, helping each other out and playing like a team.
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“It was a big team effort. I had probably seven or eight girls out there. It was great, and we had a lot of girls step up. My captains (Cierra Bolender and Macie Adams) stepped up big today, and Taylor Butterbaugh and Jaelyn Pitzer stepped up too. It was a lot of the same girls who stepped up yesterday, but today it all just clicked at once.”
The closest game of the match was Game 2 where the Lady Tigers held a lead, but Hillsboro rallied late to get within one point of the lead at 22-21. From there, though, the Lady Tigers built their lead back to 23-21, followed by a 24-21 score with an ace by Jaelyn Pitzer. MHS then built a 24-22 lead, only to have Hillsboro battle back with a point by Hope Middleton with a block at the net.
From there, Hillsboro’s Paige Loudin tied the score at 24-24, only to see the Lady Tigers score a point with an out-of-bounds play. The game ended with a point at the net by Taylor Butterbaugh for the 26-24 score.
“We’ve been having some issues where it is like a roller coaster ride,” HHS head coach Nichole Dickey said. “The girls will get up, then they’ll be a change and they’ll beat themselves up, and we’re trying to get over that. McClain has some really aggressive servers, and that hurt us quite a bit.
“We got behind early in all three sets, but the girls came back for the most part and fought.
A lot of our games we are losing by two points, which is heartbreaking. Our kills numbers were down for us. If they keep working, they will get there – we just have to turn that corner.”
In Game 3, the Lady Tigers built a lead of 21-17 and never relinquished the advantage through the final moments of the third game. HHS came back with a point by Katie Condo, followed by Sydney Bobbitt scoring a point for HHS off a serve for a 21-20 score.
McClain answered with a point from Allara Spurlock as she hit the ball behind her back and over the net on a third hit, putting MHS ahead at 22-20. HHS came back with a kill by Loudin, only to see McClain equal that point with a kill by Makenzie Montavon.
Again, Loudin scored a point at the net for the Lady Indians, but the final two points of the match were scored by McClain with Butterbaugh gaining a point off a kill, and then MHS had a play at the net ending the match with a 25-22 score.
“It felt great to see the girls all click at once because I felt like I’ve been saying the same thing for the past seven games,” Alsop said. “I put our freshman Iva Easter in, and she got some hits and is moving well. Overall, the girls did well. Ashley Hardesty came in and had a good game. Kaleigh Easter and Makenzie Montavon set well, and Makenzie hit well for us, too.”
Next for McClain is a FAC match on Thursday against Jackson. Hillsboro will also play in a FAC match Thursday at Washington.
McClain won by scores of 25-15, 26-24 and 25-22 at Hillsboro. The win moves the Lady Tigers back to the .500 mark for the season overall at 8-8. In the FAC, McClain is 3-2.
“It was good today, and everything clicked for us,” McClain head coach Taylor Alsop said. “We went back to what we were doing at the beginning. We started moving our feet, we were talking, helping each other out and playing like a team.
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“It was a big team effort. I had probably seven or eight girls out there. It was great, and we had a lot of girls step up. My captains (Cierra Bolender and Macie Adams) stepped up big today, and Taylor Butterbaugh and Jaelyn Pitzer stepped up too. It was a lot of the same girls who stepped up yesterday, but today it all just clicked at once.”
The closest game of the match was Game 2 where the Lady Tigers held a lead, but Hillsboro rallied late to get within one point of the lead at 22-21. From there, though, the Lady Tigers built their lead back to 23-21, followed by a 24-21 score with an ace by Jaelyn Pitzer. MHS then built a 24-22 lead, only to have Hillsboro battle back with a point by Hope Middleton with a block at the net.
From there, Hillsboro’s Paige Loudin tied the score at 24-24, only to see the Lady Tigers score a point with an out-of-bounds play. The game ended with a point at the net by Taylor Butterbaugh for the 26-24 score.
“We’ve been having some issues where it is like a roller coaster ride,” HHS head coach Nichole Dickey said. “The girls will get up, then they’ll be a change and they’ll beat themselves up, and we’re trying to get over that. McClain has some really aggressive servers, and that hurt us quite a bit.
“We got behind early in all three sets, but the girls came back for the most part and fought.
A lot of our games we are losing by two points, which is heartbreaking. Our kills numbers were down for us. If they keep working, they will get there – we just have to turn that corner.”
In Game 3, the Lady Tigers built a lead of 21-17 and never relinquished the advantage through the final moments of the third game. HHS came back with a point by Katie Condo, followed by Sydney Bobbitt scoring a point for HHS off a serve for a 21-20 score.
McClain answered with a point from Allara Spurlock as she hit the ball behind her back and over the net on a third hit, putting MHS ahead at 22-20. HHS came back with a kill by Loudin, only to see McClain equal that point with a kill by Makenzie Montavon.
Again, Loudin scored a point at the net for the Lady Indians, but the final two points of the match were scored by McClain with Butterbaugh gaining a point off a kill, and then MHS had a play at the net ending the match with a 25-22 score.
“It felt great to see the girls all click at once because I felt like I’ve been saying the same thing for the past seven games,” Alsop said. “I put our freshman Iva Easter in, and she got some hits and is moving well. Overall, the girls did well. Ashley Hardesty came in and had a good game. Kaleigh Easter and Makenzie Montavon set well, and Makenzie hit well for us, too.”
Next for McClain is a FAC match on Thursday against Jackson. Hillsboro will also play in a FAC match Thursday at Washington.