Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
WAVERLY — The standard is still excellence in Frankfort.
For years and years, Adena’s volleyball program has operated in a state of success.
That hasn’t changed and it doesn’t look to be changing anytime soon.
The Warriors (18-7) handed Wheelersburg a straight-set loss on Saturday in a Division III district championship game — and made it look easy, doing so by a 25-20, 25-6, 25-22 final.
“I really think we just had to pull through,” Adena senior Eva Kruger said. “We knew it wasn’t going to be like last year [in a district final]. It was different because we were playing another SVC school. So playing a team that’s not from our conference brings something else to the game. We really had to prepare for a tough game.”
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
Kruger, as usual, was excellent around the net alongside her partners in crime Brinlee Preston, Katie Burns and Corrine Day.
But the Warriors also did a ton of damage at the service line, finding holes in Wheelersburg’s defense to the tune of seven aces while continuing to keep the Pirates on their toes.
“I think it’s important to serve [aggressively],” Adena’s Kamryn Sowers said. “As a defense, that makes it easier for us if the ball is off the net. Serving tough is important.”
The tone of a dominant win was set in the afternoon’s first game.
Adena jumped out to a 7-3 lead before Kruger, Day and Sowers teamed up to power the Warriors to a 14-4 advantage.
That 10-point lead still stood late in the set when Burns powered a ball to the floor to make it 20-10.
But to their credit, the Pirates (21-3) battled back. Behind Gracie Perkins at the net, Wheelersburg eventually trimmed the deficit to 23-19 with a 5-1 run.
Unfortunately for the Pirates, they had already dug too deep of a hole.
Preston logged a kill before Burns followed suit to close out a 25-20 victory.
“It’s a really good feeling to know that when you’re on the court, no matter what happens and no matter how big of a mistake you may make, your team isn’t going to hate you for it,” Kruger said. “When you shake it off and get back out there, you know you have those who will back you up.”
In the second, from the get-go, it was all Adena — almost quite literally.
After Perkins gave Wheelersburg a 1-0 lead, Preston and Burns went to work and gave the Warriors a 10-4 lead. Then, Sowers took over at the service line, pacing a 6-0 run, before Kruger closed out a dominant 25-6 win for a 2-0 match lead.
With their season on life support, the Pirates came out with energy in the third. Perkins, alongside Gracie Perkins and Alyssa Mullins, gave ‘Burg an 8-5 lead to start.
Adena, however, fought to take a 10-9 advantage and later extended their edge to 18-14. Woodward then led a 4-0 burst to force an 18-18 tie and the Pirates even went ahead 21-20. But the Warriors had too many horses to corral as they closed out a district championship win by a 25-22 final.
Statistically, Burns led Adena with 11 kills while Kruger added 10 of her own. Preston also helped out with eight kills.
Perkins paced the Pirates’ offense with 12 kills and both Woodward and Mullins had six each.
While Wheelersburg — who doesn’t have a senior on its roster — sees its season come to an end, Adena advances to a Division III regional semifinal at 7:30 p.m., Thursday at Logan High School.
The Warriors will face South Webster — a 3-0 winner over Meigs on Saturday.
It isn’t a stage Adena is unfamiliar with. Kruger and company will be leaning on experience heading onto a big stage.
“The experience we have is going to help the underclassmen know they’re in a safe place,” Kruger said. “We’ve been here before and we’re never going to shame them for being scared [in the regional tournament]. We all were at one point. I know I was last year. Just being aggressive and not losing confidence … that’s the big thing.”
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