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CHILLICOTHE — After seeing her team win Thursday night’s first two sets but drop the third, Unioto’s Zoie Dettwiller was ready to call it a night.
All night long, the Shermans had battled a talented Chillicothe team in a nip-and-tuck match.
But when Dettwiller received the volleyball on the service line midway through the fourth set, she put to rest any thoughts the Cavaliers were having of forcing a fifth.
Leading Unioto (2-1) on a momentum-switching 8-0 run, Dettwiller powered her team to a 22-8 lead en route to a 25-14 match-clinching victory — a 25-21, 26-24, 21-25, 25-14 final.
“We all just kind of got together that last set,” Dettwiller said. “We weren’t playing very well and we all just came together. I felt so good. I was telling our girls, “I just feel so good tonight.’ After we got that big lead, I just kept pushing.”
Dettwiller ended the night with four aces alongside three blocks and seven kills. And she had plenty of help along the way — namely Jade Stewart, Kyra Stulley and Alli Park, who combined for 23 other kills.
Stewart finished with a team-high 11 kills while Stulley and Park added eight each.
Balance was the name of the game and should be a common theme all season long.
“It’s definitely fun knowing that we still have an all-around team,” Stewart said. “Last year, losing some big hitters, just knowing that people have to fill those spots and knowing that we have people that can, that feels pretty good.”
Tale of the tape
A back-and-forth first game set the tone for the rest of the evening.
Unioto jumped out to a 2-0 lead before Chillicothe went ahead 4-2 behind kills from Evelyn Hamman and Marissa Stiteler. The Shermans took back the lead at 7-6 before the Cavaliers ripped off a 6-0 run — thanks, in part, to Grace Townsend, who seemed to be everywhere during the sequence.
But finding themselves down 12-7 early, the Shermans decided to battle back. Park and Dettwiller led the charge and Unioto eventually got back in front at 17-16. Chillicothe raced in for just a moment but Unioto’s Kinzli Batson came up with a huge block to tie the game at 21-21.
That block was the start of a game-ending 5-0 run to give the Shermans a 1-0 advantage.
PHOTOS: Images from Unioto’s win over Chillicothe
In the second, Unioto bolted out to a 9-4 lead before Chillicothe started to chip away. The Cavaliers did so behind the combination of Hamman, Stiteler and Makalee Miller, who eventually logged back-to-back aces to put CHS in front by a 15-13 tally.
Later, when Natalie Dudley posted an ace of her own, Chillicothe had a 20-14 lead and was on a 7-1 run. But after Unioto called a timeout, things changed. The Shermans slowly gained momentum and eventually used it to gut out a 26-24 victory — using a 7-0 run to end it.
The Cavaliers took a quick 10-5 lead in the third and never looked back. After withstanding a 6-0 run from Unioto that forced a 14-14 tie, Hamman powered down a kill and Miranda McCloy logged an ace to create breathing room.
From there, Miller, Townsend and Isabella Witte went to work, carrying Chillicothe to the finish line of a 25-21 win.
“We knew that [Chillicothe] was going to be a tough team,” Stewart said. “They had [Townsend] transfer in and [Miller] transfer. Then, having [Hamman] still, she’s obviously a strong hitter. So we knew we had to do our job tonight and our back row had to have our backs behind us.”
After a loss in the third, the fourth belonged to Unioto from the start.
Isabel Link gave the Shermans their first lead at 3-2. That sparked an 11-1 run, one powered by Stulley, Stewart and Link, to make it 13-3. Chillicothe clawed its way back into things and cut the deficit to 14-8 but that’s when Dettwiller stepped to the line and tucked the Cavaliers in.
“Once we get those kills, we just feed off each other,” Dettwiller said. “Once that first one goes [down], I feel like all of us just pick it up and it’s kill after kill.”
Stat book
Statistically, aside from the Shermans’ kill totals, Stewart added a pair of aces and 13 digs to her stat sheet while Alexa West posted a team-high 18 digs. Batson also chipped in with 17 digs and a team-high 28 assists.
“We had Alexa step up as a libero this year and she’s doing a great job at it,” Stewart said. “Kinzli is just a freshman and stepping into that setter spot, she’s doing an amazing job at it.”
Townsend led the Cavaliers with 40 assists, 10 digs and a pair of aces while McCloy added 17 digs. Hamman finished the night with 16 kills and three aces, and Stiteler and Witte added eight kills each.
What’s on tap
Next on the docket for the Cavaliers is a trip to the Westerville South Invitational on Saturday. They’ll start the day with a matchup against Newark. Meanwhile, the Shermans will try to stay on track in Scioto Valley Conference play on Tuesday, traveling to Westfall.
“We definitely need to work on our serve receive,” Stewart said. “We’re struggling on some nights and defense, definitely. Then, it’s our communication. Sometimes, we’re lacking and sometimes we’re good at it. So we definitely just need to click.”
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