Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
WAVERLY — In some way, shape or form, history always tends to repeat itself.
Prior to Wednesday’s matchup, Huntington and Westfall had squared off twice this season with the Lady Huntsmen winning both matchups in five sets.
So it only made sense that the third matchup in a Division V district semifinal told the same story. Just like the two’s previous two matchups, Huntington escaped with a five-set win to advance — a 25-21, 20-25, 25-13, 22-25, 15-8 final.
“We’ve been to five sets with a lot of teams, including Westfall twice, so we’re used to that type of situation,” Huntington’s Leah McCloskey said. “It all comes down to us having confidence, trusting our teammates, having fun and as long as we do those things, then we know that we can pull out any win.”
CREDIT: Raymond Gleadle/SOSA
Considering how well both teams knew each other and how evenly talented across the board they are, Wednesday was going to come down to the small details.
After being tied 7-7 early in the first set, Huntington (21-3) managed to piece together a 5-0 run and pushed its lead to 17-11 following a kill from SVC Player of the Year Kaci Carroll.
Westfall (10-14) battled back behind Natalie Young and Aubrey Clark to eventually tie the game at 21-21. In the end, though, the Mustangs committed a series of errors and gave up the final four points for a Huntington win.
Determined to not let another set slip out of its hands, Westfall jumped out to a 9-4 lead in the second after back-to-back aces from Young. Despite the early momentum switch, Huntington fought back behind Carroll, Braliee Hauswirth and Tori Smith to eventually tie the game at 16-16.
PHOTOS: Images from Huntington’s win over Westfall
However, Westfall was ready to make a push as kills from Young and Clark, alongside an ace from Gabby Henry, closed out the set to tie the match at 1-1.
“Westfall is a really scrappy team who dives for everything and works really hard for every point,” McCloskey said. “We knew this wasn’t going to be an easy game and that we had to work 10 times as hard as they would, but also keep up our energy.”
Armed with rejuvenated energy, the Mustangs were determined to seize all momentum. But Huntington’s Allie Baker had a different plan and she completely took over the match.
Baker had four early kills to put the Lady Huntsmen ahead 9-6, and she was only warming up. Her team continued to feed her the ball, and she kept finding open spots in the Mustangs’ defense as the lead continued to grow before reaching double digits behind 10 Baker kills for a third set victory.
“I just knew I had to get the job done whenever it was my chance,” Baker said. “We had momentum throughout the set. I just had to continue trusting our teammates and just keep working.”
With their season hanging in the balance, the Mustangs were ready to throw a counter punch.
In the fourth, there were seven ties and four lead changes, including one off a hitting error to put WF ahead 14-13. Although Huntington managed to climb back and cut the deficit to 20-19, Clark scored three of the next five Mustang points to push the game to a fifth set.
The race to 15 was on and Westfall committed back-to-back errors, putting Huntington ahead 6-4 early in the fifth.
Those errors continued to take place as Huntington’s lead grew to 10-5. That was all they needed as Hauswirth and Carroll powered a win to send them back to a district final.
“I trust my hitters 100% and a setter always needs to have that great relationship with the hitters,” McColskey said. “I love all of the girls, we’re like one huge family. It’s been the best year of the four I’ve had. So I couldn’t have asked for a better senior year and I’m excited to be in a district final.”
Huntington returns to action at 5 p.m. on Saturday at Waverly High School in a Division V district final against Zane Trace, who defeated North Adams to advance.
The Lady Huntsmen, who last won a district title in 2019, already own two victories over the Pioneers — one in four sets and the other in five.
“We have great community support, they all have our backs and cheer us on as much as they can,” McCloskey said. “We’re going to keep practicing, playing with energy and having fun, that’s the main thing.”
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