Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth
WAVERLY — Vinton County entered Monday on a five-game winning streak while Waverly entered after dropping two of its last three games.
However, the tournament provided a fresh chance to restart the season and the Tigers, when it matters most, are 1-0.
Despite a fierce late rally, the Vikings made just one too many mistakes in the closing moments and saw their season come to an end in four sets by a 25-16, 24-26, 25-23, 27-25 final in a Division IV District first round matchup on Monday.
“We didn’t come out in the beginning with the strongest offense. It was a lot of tipping, and trying to aim for spots and sometimes tipping doesn’t get the job done,” Waverly coach Rikki Magill said. “It’s tough to defend an aggressive team, and we reinforced to the girls to get yourself in a position to make swings, even if they roll deep. It needed to be something to make Vinton County struggle with defensively, and we did that as the game went on.”
CREDIT: Sam Walsh/SOSA
Out of the gates, it was clear that Waverly (11-12) was ready for the moment.
The Tigers never trailed in the first set, jumping ahead to an early 6-2 lead following an ace from Caris Risner. From that point, the Vikings (12-11) were introduced to the power of Sidney Johnson at the net, and had no answer.
The lead continued to grow, eventually reaching double digits after back-to-back Johnson aces before the Tigers closed out a win.
“All season long, Sidney has worked so hard and been a kid that is extremely coachable. She wants the ball and has been that person who takes on that responsibility,” Magill said. “There’s no fear inside of her and she believes in herself as well as her ability to get the ball down. She may only be 5-foot-7, but she’s very versatile and has the ability to run quicks, high balls, hit lines and sharp angles. She’s a complete threat everywhere on the court.”
Now that the Vikings understood how Waverly was going to attack, they made some adjustments and took the fight to the Tigers.
Between Jordyn Zinn, Hannah Composto, Kaylyn Fry and Mallory Bledsoe, the Vikings maintained a two-point lead until a Zinn kill pushed the advantage to 12-8. VC continued to feed Zinn, and the senior delivered one kill after another as the lead grew to as large as 18-11.
However, Waverly wasn’t going away easily.
It battled back behind Johnson, Sadie Royster, Taryn Gillot and Anna Schrader for a 10-2 run, taking a 21-20 lead. Although momentum flipped, the Vikings continued to fight, tying the game at 21, 22 and 24. Waverly then committed an error and Zinn ripped a kill to seal the deal for the win.
“Losing our all-time leader in blocks in Hallie Oyer, we knew coming in that we don’t have the tallest team. We lost that one set, which I thought we had,” Royster said. “But the good thing about our team is we rally well and our chemistry is great. We play together as a team, so we knew we could bounce back.”
While both teams knew their season was on the line, reality began to settle in during the third set and the race was on.
After nine ties and six lead changes, Waverly got the advantage following an ace from Risner and a kill from Johnson to take a 17-14 lead.
Yet, the Vikings had an answer.
Later trailing 22-19, Fry served two aces, sandwiched between a kill from Bledsoe to tie the game. But in the end, Johnson powered down two kills for Waverly before landing the final point to go up 2-1.
“From last year to this year, we’ve grown a lot of grit. Our ability to hop back from a set loss wasn’t as good as it is now,” Magill said. “Our bounce-back ability is much better and it’s made such a huge difference.”
With their season hanging in the balance, it was a nip and tuck fourth set as the game was tied at 6-6 and later at 11-11. Waverly created some distance with a 6-1 run behind two aces from Royster and kills from Johnson to go ahead 17-12.
But the Vikings showed signs of life and countered with a 6-0 run that featured back-to-back aces from Shyann Holcomb to take an 18-17 advantage. Later tied at 23-23, Zinn ripped a kill to give the Vikings the match point. But they committed a service error that opened the door for Waverly. The Tigers took a 26-25 lead before a kill from Royster hit the ground, putting the game and the Vikings’ season on ice.
“In the beginning of the season, me and Sadie were playing right beside each other. But we switched, we’re opposite of each other to where she’s swinging hard while I’m in the back row and it’s really helped us,” Johnson said. “She did such an amazing job tonight, and I kept yelling at her to swing. Her tips in the middle were great as well. It was what we needed to get the win.”
While Vinton County’s season comes to a close, Waverly returns to action on Thursday in a Division IV district quarterfinal at top-seeded Warren.
“I think sometimes you go in and try to over complicate things. But for us, we just need to play the best way we can and not go too far away from our game,” Magill said. “We’re capable of winning. It comes down to making them stop us before we have to adjust. Relying on our abilities is what will take us to having a chance to pull the upset.”
SPONSORED BY MEGAN CARROLL — STATE FARM INSURANCE
