John Bruce, Staff Writer
Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
PIKETON — With an outstanding defensive performance and offensive attack, the Adena Warriors put on full display the abilities that won them a third consecutive Scioto Valley Conference title on Tuesday.
CREDIT: Cory Hall/SOSA
In a match that was never in doubt, the Warriors swept Huntington by a 25-9, 25-11, 25-16 final to advance to a fourth consecutive district championship game.
Even after a loss of a huge senior class from last year’s state semifinal team, Adena (22-2) is still on top of the Division III volleyball mountain.
“It felt good. We knew we had to get our momentum going,” Adena’s Hannah Burns said. “When we start off [playing] well, we play well all the way through. So we knew that’s what we had to do.”
After their first meeting of the season, where Huntsmen (12-12) took the Warriors to four sets, the Warriors were mentally prepared for any challenge Huntington would bring.
Huntington, featuring only one senior, Makenzie Tackett, was a hungry group, coming off a thrilling five-set comeback victory over Westfall in the sectional finals. With Kaci Carroll, Meredith Hirsch and Emma Hinshaw on the attack, the Huntsmen had ways to cause issues for any team.
But the Warriors took control early in the contest with swift defensive efforts from Brooke Bossert, Brenna McQuiniff and Grace Townsend in the back, alongside an offensive attack with hitters Eva Kruger, Sydney Foglesong and Hannah Burns scoring repeatedly.
PHOTOS: Images from Adena’s win over Huntington
Kruger and Burns, especially, dominated the opening set by combining for 15 kills in the 25-9 set win.
“My teammates help me be confident on the court, especially [Burns]. When I have a bad hit, they let me shake it off,” Kruger said. “Once I get back in the groove, I do pretty well.”
Another keystone for Adena’s success throughout the season has been its depth, which was on display as Carly Bowdle, Katie Burns and Brinlee Preston each stepped up to play big roles in a 25-11 second set victory.
Huntington battled back in the third to make the match closer, but the Warriors were able to put them away with a 25-16 win to complete the sweep.
Fittingly, Hannah Burns closed out the match with a kill, assisted by SVC assist leader Grace Townsend.
“We trust each other lot and we have each other’s backs,” Burns said. “I think something that helps us a lot is our bond together. We know we have each other’s backs and we know we can shake things off.”
With the win, the Warriors will be playing for their 36th district championship, when they take on Zane Trace at 2 p.m., Saturday at Waverly High School.
The Warriors beat the Pioneers in four sets in each of their meetings during the regular season, which gave them enough of an edge to win the SVC by one match over the Pioneers.
“I think we need to do the little things [right] and keep our groove going,” Burns said. “If we play as a team, coming together really well, we’ll play confident and come out strong like we did tonight.”
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