Southern Ohio Sports Authority is presented by OhioHealth.
LOGAN — The way that Wheelersburg performed on Thursday must have felt like a dream for junior setter Ella Chamberlin.
All night long, set after set, no matter which teammate that Chamberlin decided to set up, the Pirates continued to find holes in Belmont Union Local’s defense.
Wheelersburg (23-2) kept its foot on the gas pedal and handed the Jets a convincing 25-20, 25-11, 25-22 loss in a Division V regional semifinal.
CREDIT: Raymond Gleadle/SOSA
“When we push passing precision, we call it setter discretion,” Wheelersburg coach Kelsey Glockner said. “So we work really hard getting the ball to target and letting Ella see things. I give her the choice of where to put the ball and, when we’re on like that, I trust her decisions. I trust how the hitters are communicating with her and when we’re on that cruise control, I’m really happy. That’s kudos to the defense for letting it happen, too.”
After six ties in the opening set, Chamberlin began to connect with Gracie Perkins and Alyssa Mullins with regularity. That trio began to create momentum throughout the opening game.
The Pirates were aided by a swarming defense at the net, led by Perkins, Mullins, Laynee Walker, Brooklyn Miller and Grace Woodward. Those five, alongside Chamberlin, all had a piece of a block in the first set as they ran away from the Jets by a 25-20 final.
“We had three practices this week and the push was discipline and staying where we needed to be in the discipline,” Glockner said. “Playing a team like Union Local, they were kind of like us with the spread offense. You didn’t really know who was going to get the ball. So there’s no cheating. We have to stay honest in the block and wait to see who’s getting the sets. That’s been the push all week. But they were [locked in] all week. At our core, we’re semi-young. Most of them haven’t been here yet. They all showed up today and executed the game plan.”
To begin the second, Union Local (22-4) took a 1-0 lead on a kill from sophomore Ameera Saunders. But after that, it was all Pirates.
PHOTOS: Images from Wheelersburg’s regional semifinal win over Union Local
A barrage of kills from Mullins, Perkins and Woodward helped ‘Burg take an 8-1 lead and the lightning-quick backline defense of Mylee Gleim, Laikyn Hall and Woodward eliminated the Jets’ attack and helped set Chamberlin up with easy passes to her hitters.
Woodward, Miller and Perkins continued burying kills with lethal efficiency to give the Pirates a dominant 25-11 second set win.
“They were just on it. They followed the scouting report, they followed the shot chart I made, and their service execution, where I asked them to put the ball, was excellent,” Glockner said. “I didn’t think it could get better than it was against Fairland [in the district final]. But I honestly think it was better today. I think we had one serving error. I can’t say enough about the eight of them and what they can be when they choose to do [things like they did tonight].”
The third and final set would be much more interesting as the Jets were able to force four ties and three lead changes, along with a late push to cause the Pirates to use their first timeout of the match with a 21-20 lead.
However, a monster block by Perkins at the net shifted the momentum back to the Pirates and helped push them to a 25-22 victory, hammered home by a final kill from Perkins.
“It’s a game of momentum,” Glockner said. “But in those last six points, that’s the first time I saw them kind of lay off. They hadn’t done that all night. I told them that’s not how we’d been winning this game and we weren’t going to start it now. So they went out, took the game into their own hands and stopped letting it come to them.”
The Pirates now advance to a Division V regional final at 2 p.m. on Saturday, back at Logan High School.
They’ll be facing Adena, a 3-0 winner over Zane Trace, and looking for their first regional championship since 2019, and second-ever.
“I told them in the locker room that we were going to enjoy this now but victories are short-lived when you progress through this tournament,” Glockner said. “So we’ll enjoy it tonight, but tomorrow, it’s back to work and figuring out how to beat the next opponent.”
SPONSORED BY PAR MAR STORES
