Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
OAK HILL — For years, success and Oak Hills’ volleyball program haven’t exactly had the best relationship imaginable.
Frankly, it’s been one losing season after another. In fact, the Oaks haven’t won double-digit games in a season since the turn of the century.
However, that streak was snapped last Thursday in a victory over South Gallia. Monday was a chance to continue changing the fortune, and even though they nearly let a win slip out of their hands, the Oaks continued earning success.
They were pushed to their limits, nearly taking a four-set loss. But, they showed grit and determination by winning a grueling fourth set before seizing a five-set win over Coal Grove — 19-25, 25-15, 19-25, 31-29, 15-9 — in non-league action.
CREDIT: Seth Fain/Fain Photography
“We have a bad tendency that just because we’re having a winning season and our opponents aren’t, we come in a little cocky and start playing bad volleyball,” Oak Hill coach Zack Kisor said. “Our defense isn’t running as smooth, which leads to balls being dropped and that switches over to our offense going too slow. But we shook off a slow start and figured out some things we needed to correct. To pull out this win means a lot.”
The win moves Oak Hill to 11-8 overall this season and marks the team’s fifth straight victory. It also guarantees that they can’t finish any worse than .500 during the regular season with just three games left on their schedule.
“We haven’t had a winning streak or a season like this at Oak Hill in my four years,” Oak Hill’s Brinlee Harden said. “This year has definitely been really special, especially as a senior to be able to play in a game like this and finish off strong.”
Early in the game on Monday, the Oaks took control behind three early kills from Emma Figgins to take a 7-6 lead. Coal Grove (1-11) continued to hang around, but Oak Hill continued to control the game. That was until Coal Grove’s Elizabeth Lively stepped back to the service line.
With her Hornets trailing 16-14, she led the charge on a 9-0 run with three aces to give her team enough cushion to finish the set for the win.
Realizing they let an opportunity pass them by, the Oaks went right back to work. Harden served up back-to-back aces, and Bailee Larhmer served one as well to take an 8-3 lead.
That wave of momentum only grew larger as the set continued. Figgins and Reagan Adkins powered down kills to help the lead grow to as large as 20-7 before closing out to tie the match.
“Coach definitely ripped into us between the first and second set, so that definitely got our heads on straight,” Harden said. “That second set was us having fun, and I think that’s important to remember. We connect really well together and we’ve done a much better job this year of shaking off our mistakes and moving onto the next point.”
Maybe their was a sense that everything was back to normal on Oak Hill’s side, but Coal Grove was ready to rock the boat again.
Kirsten Dome ripped an ace early to cap a 4-0 run, putting the Hornets ahead 6-2. Oak Hill later managed to cut the lead to 13-10 following a kill from Alyssa Whitt, but that’s when Lovely stepped back to the service line.
She tacked on another ace and led the charge on a 6-0 run that pushed the lead to 19-10, where the Hornets kept their foot on the gas to take a 2-1 lead.
Coal Grove held a lead in the fourth set all the way, but Figgins served up an ace as part of a 5-0 run, capped by a kill from Adkins to take a 19-18 lead, and that’s when the battle truly began.
Both teams stayed with one another trying to get an edge, forcing ties from 18-18 to 29-29. However, Coal Grove shot itself in the foot with a pair of hitting errors that gave the Oaks the win and pushed the game to a fifth set.
“We have a great group this year and we definitely wanted that winning season, and I wasn’t going out on senior night without a win,” Adkins said. “I felt the motivation to win just like everyone else, so we wanted to push through and play another set.”
Coal Grove took an early lead in the race to 15, but Figgins and Adkins powered back-to-back kills to put the Oaks up 6-5. Adkins later notched a pair of kills and an ace that pushed the lead to 14-9 before a Hornet hitting error sealed the deal on the 11th win of the Oaks’ season.
“It’s definitely nice to see them dig down deep and play a hard five sets, even better with no subs,” Kisor said. “We’re not a deep team at all, but being this close to the tournament and knowing we can battle back and pull out a five-set win lets me know that we have what it takes to compete and push through no matter the situation.”
Figgins finished with 18 kills, 15 digs and a pair of aces, Adkins added 15 digs and 13 kills, and Harden had 38 assists, 22 digs and three aces. Larhmer also helped out, tallying 16 digs as well.
Oak Hill returns to action on Thursday at Northwest, while Coal Grove travels to Gallia Academy for OVC play the same evening.
SPONSORED BY HOMELAND CREDIT UNION
