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WAVERLY — Nine sets played, nine sets won.
For Adena, playing the same opponent three times in a season isn’t something its superstitious about. It’s looked at as another opportunity to get better.
The Warriors (17-7) faced some adversity at times in each of Tuesday’s sets. But they weathered those storms and came out unscathed, earning a third straight-set win — a 25-20, 25-21, 25-13 final — over Westfall.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
“We played really well at times, and other times, it looked like we still have some work to do,” Adena coach Laura Smith said. “But that comes with playing the same team three times. [Westfall coach] Stacy [Caudill] had a really good game plan and they played well. But we were able to respond and answer back when we had our chances.”
Having already played them twice, there wasn’t much Westfall (15-9) could do that Adena wasn’t prepared for. Despite trailing 9-4, the Mustangs mounted a 4-0 run behind back-to-back aces from Lauryn Blackburn to cut the lead to one point in the first set.
That was the theme of the night.
Anytime Westfall got close to fully erasing a deficit, the Warriors always had an answer.
Although the lead never surpassed a five-point margin in the first, it never sank below two, either. Westfall cut the lead to 19-16, but Eva Kruger came through with a pair of kills and Corinne Day added a block to help the Warriors take the opening set.
“With it being tournament time, it’s a completely different season and everyone is playing their best,” Kruger said. “For us, it’s more of a myth that beating the same team three times is hard. But we knew we had to be prepared to play a tough game.”
Realizing how close it was to a victory, the Mustangs opened the second with a ton of energy and got out to a 9-7 lead following a block from Aubrey Clark and a kill from Blackburn.
Adena answered right back with a 5-0 run, powered by three kills from Day to take a 12-7 advantage — one it wouldn’t relinquish.
The Warriors continued to create some distance behind the net play of Brinlee Preston and Katie Burns, pushing the lead to 20-15 before Burns ended the set with a kill.
“We’ve played a tough schedule and faced a lot of Division I teams, but having that experience and playing top teams is completely worth it,” Preston said. “It definitely showed us areas we needed to work on and helped us be more consistent with our play.”
With all momentum on their side, the trio of Kruger, Preston and Burns continued to do damage at the net and leave no doubt.
Trailing 4-1 at the start, they began to pile up one kill after another to spark an 11-3 run and it was academic from that point. They continued to find holes in the Mustangs’ defense, pushing the lead into double digits before punching their district final tickets.
“The biggest thing for us is we have to continue working on being consistent and playing as a team,” Preston said. “Rewatching the film from the previous two times we played Westfall definitely helped. We understood how to prepare and the areas we could take advantage of, and that really helped us.”
Day finished with a game-high 11 kills, while Burns added 10 kills and four blocks for Adena. Grace Townsend had 28 assists and 17 digs, and Brooke Bossert had 17 digs.
For Westfall, Jaylynn Wippel had 23 assists, 11 digs and a pair of aces, while Blackburn had eight kills and Delana Landefeld added 13 digs.
Adena advances to a Division III district final at noon, Saturday at Waverly High School against Wheelersburg — who defeated Chesapeake to advance.
“I’ve coached a few of those Wheelersburg girls in club season and they’re fantastic players,” Smith said. “As a team, they pass the ball really well and they have height at the net, so it’s going to be a really good challenge for us.”
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