Lady Mustangs advance to district semifinals; sweep Belpre

DODSONVILLE — The Lynchburg-Clay Lady Mustangs are going to the Division VI SE District Semifinals, and they are doing so by winning in the quarterfinal round on Tuesday, at home, against the Belpre Lady Golden Eagles. 

The win at Lynchburg-Clay High School was their Lady Mustangs' 18th win of the season, improving to 18-4 overall. This win kept their season moving along, winning the match in three sets by scores of 25-12, 25-19 and 25-12. 

“I thought we did a good job when we got out in front and lengthened our lead, but we let (Belpre) stick around too much. We made a few mistakes that kept them in the game, but once we started being aggressive and our front line hitters were getting some good sets and getting some good attacks, I think that took them out of system and gave us the advantage,” LCHS head coach James O’Connor said.  

In the victory, Lynchburg-Clay, in the first set, led early on by a 5-1 score, then built a 10-4 lead with the help of serves by both seniors Halle Greene and Addy Carraher. Carraher also had one kill, two aces and one block in the match, while Greene had six kills and one ace.

Later in the first set, a block by junior Hydee Green added to the LCHS lead, and following a point scored by senior Jules Vesey, it was the Lady Mustangs leading 13-7. LCHS scored their final four points of the set with Belpre unable to get the ball returned over the net on a couple occasions, and the final point to seal the set win was a serve by Carraher for the 25-12 win. 

Set two was mostly Belpre at the start of the match, as they tied the score at 1-1, then took a 7-2 advantage, Eventually, Lynchburg-Clay battled back for an 11-11 tied score with the help of serves by senior Kylie O'Connor, and LCHS took a 12-11 lead following the tied score. O’Connor finished the match with 10 kills, five aces and a block. 

LCHS didn't relinquish the lead for the remainder of the set as they built a 17-12 lead and later led by four points at 20-16 after a point scored by Green. LCHS eventually pulled away and won by six points at 25-19. 

The third set by the Lady Mustangs included a 7-0 start by the home team where LCHS was in total control of the set. As the match continued, it was LCHS leading 16-6 following serves by Greene and a play at the net by O’Connor. 

The LCHS lead went to 18-9 with a play at the net by junior Bre Rosselott, then to 22-9 when O’Connor had a kill. The final two points scored by Lynchburg-Clay were by Rosselott with two big plays at the net for the 25-12 set-three win and 3-0 match win. Rosselott finished with four kills and five blocks. 

The match also had senior Melany Stephenson of LCHS with one kill and one ace. Freshman Becca McLaughlin had multiple blocks. 

“Mel Stephenson is always good on the back row, getting receives, as is Jules Vesey,” O’Connor said. “Our front line, once we started getting more aggressive, we were getting some blocks from Hydee Green and Bre Rosselott in the middle, which was important. They (Belpre) had a really good middle hitter that was putting them right on the 10-foot line, and once our middle blockers got some blocks, they did a great job. 

“Our freshman, McLaughlin, had a couple good blocks with Green, and our front line hitters, Kylie O’Connor and Hydee Greene, had some good kills as well. It was a good team effort and a businesslike effort.” 

The Division VI SE District Semifinals will be held Wednesday, Oct. 26 at Wellston High School, where No. 4 seeded Lynchburg-Clay will face No. 5 seeded North Adams at 7:45 p.m. NAHS defeated Eastern in three sets on Tuesday. 

“We have faced North Adams twice this season, and they are a great team,” O’Connor said. “We got a set on them the last time we played them, so it would be nice to get a couple more. If you are going to go on (in the tournament), you have to beat the best teams, and they are one of the best.”