Lady Tigers headed to sectional finals
GREENFIELD — The McClain Lady Tigers swept the Valley Lady Indians on Tuesday, and the reward is a spot in the sectional finals on Saturday at Northwest High School.
The win on Tuesday at their home court by the Lady Tigers came with them defeating the Lady Indians by scores of 25-23, 25-22 and 25-21.
MHS head coach Emma Gall was pleased with how her team played in the Division III sectional semifinal match.
"All of the games were close and competitive, and I can't say enough about how well the girls played," Gall said. "Molly Black, a sophomore, had some great digs and saves.
"Allie Orr-Zody, Kelcey (Smith) and Taylor Wheaton had some nice serves, and Sarah (Thompson) had some good hits at the net."
The first set was close, but not at the start as Valley led early on, but MHS eventually tied the match at 13 and 14.
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Later in the first set, Jhaela Coleman put the Lady Tigers ahead 16-14, then the score went to 19-18 in favor of the Lady Tigers with a hit by Sarah Thompson.
From there, MHS scored three more points from Orr-Zody, Wheaton and Orr-Zody again off a serve for a 22-18 advantage. The 23rd point by MHS came from Coleman, then the 24th point was by Thompson, as MHS eventually gained the 25th point for a 25-23 first set win.
Set two was close throughout, with nine tied scores from 1-1 all the way to 22-22. In between all of that, MHS had aces from Smith and points at the net by Orr-Zody for a 6-4 advantage.
As the match progressed, Coleman scored consecutive points, and Wheaton had two points off serves for a Lady Tiger lead of 17-16. At the end of the second set, a spike from Orr-Zody and an ace by Coleman ended set two in favor of the Lady Tigers.
Also in the second set, Savannah Anderson had some digs to keep the set going for MHS. Malea Montavon also made some timely digs in the match.
Set three was tied just three times at 3-3, 4-4 and 20-20, but it was just as close throughout.
Near the end of the third set, it was McClain's Sydney Barton putting the host Lady Tigers in front at 20-18, and later, an ace by Orr-Zody had MHS ahead at 22-20. MHS won set three, 25-21, with the final point being scored by VHS hitting the ball out of play.