Miami Trace volleyball tops Washington, 3-0

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The Miami Trace Lady Panthers volleyball teams hosted the teams from Washington High School in a triple header of action Thursday night.

It was the final match of the regular season for the varsity teams, also closing out play in the Frontier Athletic Conference for the season.

Miami Trace won the varsity match in straight sets, 25-20, 25-15 and 25-23.

Miami Trace finishes the FAC schedule at 8-2, good for second place after winning the conference last season. Chillicothe won the FAC, going 10-0.

Washington finishes 5-5 in the conference. The Lady Lions go into tournament play with an overall record of 7-12.

In the first set, the score was tied, 18-18.

Miami Trace took a 21-20 lead and finished out the set with a kill by Addyson Butts for the 25-20 win.

In the second set, Washington led, 3-2 and 4-3 before Miami Trace took the lead at 5-4 and went on to capture the set with Faith Morrison serving, 25-15. A kill by Laura Robinson ended that set for Miami Trace.

In the third set, Miami Trace took a 4-1 lead in the early going.

Washington pulled to within two points, 11-9.

Miami Trace maintained its lead, increasing it to as many as seven points at 21-14.

Washington fought to stay in the match, twice pulling to within one point (23-22 and 24-23) before Miami Trace scored for a 25-23 final tally.

Statistically for Washington: Natalie Woods had one ace serve.

In attacks, Kassidy Olsson led with eight, Aaralyne Estep had five and Maggi Wall had three.

Olivia Wayne had 15 set assists and Allie Mongold had five set assists.

Estep led her team with 21 digs. Wall had 13, Wayne had five and Olsson had five.

For blocks, Wead-Salmi and Haven McGraw each had two block assists and Olsson had one.

Statistically for Miami Trace, Faith Morrison and Laura Robinson each had two ace serves.

Morrison had 28 digs, Robinson had 13 kills, Sophia Parsons had 12 kills, Addyson Butts had seven kills and Courtney Carter had five kills.

“We’ve had a roller-coaster year,” Miami Trace head coach Doug Mace said. “We had some kids out at different points. We had a couple losses, I think, because of that.

“Overall, we’re still getting to play,” Mace said. “We get to play again Monday night.”

Miami Trace will host Unioto Monday at 6 p.m. in the Sectional tournament.

“We have all our kids,” Mace said. “We’re healthy as healthy can be. We’re appreciative of that.

“Sometimes tonight things were really clicking for us,” Mace said. “Sometimes things were clicking really good for them. But, it’s Washington Court House and Miami Trace. As long as I’ve been coaching — and I’ve been at both schools — I’ve witnessed games like this. I don’t think records are nearly as important. Both schools are usually playing for pride.

“And the girls are friends with each other, they play club volleyball together,” Mace said. “They still want to come out and win. That’s the fun part of it. I’m proud of their kids, too. They came out and played really hard. We were just fortunate again tonight that we were able to pull out the win.”

“We were very flat tonight,” Washington head coach Ashley DeAtley said. “We hesitated a lot on our defense. That didn’t help too much, especially when they have big hitters like they do with Sophia (Parsons), Courtney Carter and Addyson Butts does a good job, too.

“Our middle was struggling to block,” DeAtley said. “We were kind of non-existent with our blocking. They were just getting through our block a lot. Our block was struggling to get there and our defense was struggling.

“There were a lot of things we were trying to push through tonight,” DeAtley said. “But we just didn’t bring the fire like we usually do. It’s a little disappointing, but, I know the girls will push back in order to prepare for Monday.”

In the freshman match, Miami Trace won, 16-25, 25-21 and 25-21.

In the reserve match, it was Miami Trace, 25-15 and 25-21.

Washington travels to Gallipolis Monday to play Gallia Academy in the Division II Sectional tournament. That match starts at 6 p.m.

The Miami Trace Lady Panthers (left) hosted the Washington Lady Blue Lions in a Frontier Athletic Conference match Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021. At left, going clockwise from the bottom left, Gracey Ferguson, Faith Morrison, Laura Robinson, Addyson Butts and McKenna Casto. At right, clockwise from the bottom at the net, Megan Sever, Allie Mongold, Calleigh Wead-Salmi, Kassidy Olsson and Maggi Wall.
https://www.recordherald.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/27/2021/10/web1_Lady-Lions-vball-at-lady-Panthers-10-14-2021.jpgThe Miami Trace Lady Panthers (left) hosted the Washington Lady Blue Lions in a Frontier Athletic Conference match Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021. At left, going clockwise from the bottom left, Gracey Ferguson, Faith Morrison, Laura Robinson, Addyson Butts and McKenna Casto. At right, clockwise from the bottom at the net, Megan Sever, Allie Mongold, Calleigh Wead-Salmi, Kassidy Olsson and Maggi Wall. Chris Hoppes | Record-Herald

By Chris Hoppes

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