Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
CIRCLEVILLE — There was a turning point in Thursday’s match at Logan Elm and it came in the early stages of the match.
Circleville, finding itself trailing by a 23-19 score in the first set, had a decision to make. The Tigers could scratch their way back into the thick of things or lay down and look to the second.
And, in an overwhelming sense, they pulled out their claws.
CREDIT: Derrick Webb/SOSA
After ripping off a 5-0 run to take a lead, Circleville (5-1, 3-1 MSL) never looked back throughout the remainder of the night in a 26-24, 25-17, 25-12 over the Braves.
“The girls came out and they were fired upon from the gate,” Circleville coach Crystal Thornsley said. “We focused on playing solid volleyball. We knew that [Logan Elm’s] Claire King was one of the top players in our league and that stopping her was going to be a tough task. Our blockers did a great job zeroing in on her and we were aggressive from the service line. We played behind our blocks well and stayed zeroed in.”
The win marks the Tigers’ second straight after they suffered their first loss of the season — a 25-11, 25-23, 25-14 final at the hands of Bloom-Carroll on Aug. 29.
Thornsley’s team has just two seniors on its entire roster.
She’s still learning about this youth-filled group. But if the past week has shown her anything, it’s that her girls have the ability to bounce back in a resounding way.
“It’s fantastic. It’s huge. We just keep talking about growth,” Thornsley said. “We have to keep growing. We have one heck of a schedule in front of us. It’s loaded. But we know that to be the best, you’ve got to beat the best. We’re looking to play some pretty fantastic volleyball. So we just keep responding, keep showing up every night and keep working on our mental game.”
King quickly gave Logan Elm (6-3, 1-2 MSL) a 2-0 lead in the first set before Circleville’s Ally Thornsley fired back to put the Tigers on top at 8-4 with back-to-back kills.
PHOTOS: Images from Circleville’s win over LE
The Braves fought back to take a 10-9 edge before extending it to 15-11 midway through. That’s when the Tigers turned on their burners, ripping off a 5-0 run and forcing an LE timeout.
Out of the break, King paired with teammates Kiannah Ingram and Elliana Hutchison to put Logan Elm ahead 23-19. But just when it looked like the Braves were going to go ahead 1-0 in the match, Circleville’s Drew Hoskins had other plans.
The junior led her teammates on a momentum-shifting 5-0 run that put the Tigers up 24-23 before they held on to win a 26-24 final.
“We’re working hard on being brave and being aggressive at all times, even when we’re down,” Thornsley said. “We’re working on not focusing on the moment in the game, but on the ball at hand. We want to go hard all the time. We’re working on being OK with making mistakes and responding positively when we do. That’s been our focus and they’re doing a great job.”
In the second, Emilea Edgington and Maddie Blakeman powered down kills to get Circleville out to a 7-5 lead. Thornsley then led a 5-0 run to make it 13-8 before the advantage later ballooned to 20-13. That was more than enough momentum for LE to ride its way to a 25-17 victory.
The third belonged solely to Thornsley and company.
Hoskins logged an ace and Blakeman put down another kill for an early 10-4 lead. Thornsley was then phenomenal at the net, pacing the way to a dominant 25-12 victory that put the match on ice.
“I think we did really well having the ball on our side and attacking them,” Hoskins said. “We kept the ball in play and got [Circleville] out of their system. I’m really proud of us. In our first set, we came back from being down a little bit and then, I think, we did great.”
Logan Elm will look to bounce back on Tuesday, traveling to Amanda-Clearcreek. Meanwhile, Circleville will look to stay in the win column on Saturday, going to Wheelersburg for non-league action.
“Our serve-receive, we’ve been working hard on that. So we need to continue doing that and continue to be aggressive,” Thornsley said. “We were better tonight but we have to execute on every free ball we get. We just have to keep building and score on every chance they give us.”
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