Volleyball

Sowers, Sewards 1st team all-Ohio
11/04/03

Ashley Sowers of Adena and Kelsey Sewards of Westfall -- co-players of the year in Scioto Valley Conference volleyball -- have been named first team all-Ohio in Division IV and III, respectively, by the Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association.

Both seniors were Division III third team selections a year ago, along with Sowers' teammate Erica Zurmehly. Zurmehly -- also a senior -- is a second team selection in 2003 along with Beaver Eastern's Rebecca Day.

Westfall senior Nikki Ward is an honorable mention Division III and Huntington senior Lindsey Grubb third team.

Unioto's Dennale Speakman -- a junior -- is a third team selection in Division II.

Laura Smith -- coach of Adena's undefeated regular season SVC champions -- and Westfall's Lori Merriman are recipients of Achievement Awards presented annually by the OHSVCA. Merriman has guided Westfall to the school's first final four appearance in any sport

Thursday, Oct. 30
Division II regional semifinals at Wilmington High School:
  Archbishop Kettering Alter 15-15, Unioto 2-10
  St. Bernard Roger Bacon 15-15, Cincinnati Archbishop McNicholas 11-2

Division IV regional semifinals at Lancaster High School:
  Centerburg 15-15, Wellsville 3-10
  Adena 15-15, Reedsville Eastern 1-0

Adena, Unioto, Westfall to regionals
10/25/03

Adena, Unioto and Westfall won district championships in their respective divisions Saturday to advance to regional semifinals either Wednesday or Thursday.

Adena's unbeaten Scioto Valley Conference champions breezed to a 15-1, 15-1 win over Portsmouth Clay in a Division IV upper bracket district final at Wellston High School.

That sends the Lady Warriors (25-0) to Lancaster High School for a regional semifinal Thursday against Reedsville Eastern. The regional semifinal will follow a 6:30 p.m. semifinal between Wellsville and the Centerburg/Lancaster Fisher Catholic district final winner at Pickerington. Reedsville Eastern defeated Beaver Eastern 15-11, 12-15, 15-5 in the lower bracket district final at Wellston High School.

Westfall (21-3) staved off Huntington (19-7) 15-13, 15-12 for a Division III upper bracket championship at Waverly High School. The Lady Mustangs advance to a Division III regional semifinal Wednesday at Logan High School against Albany Alexander.

The regional semifinal will follow a 6:30 p.m. semifinal between the winners of Byesville and Hilliard #1 district finals.

Unioto (19-6) rallied to beat Athens for the second time this season 12-15, 15-10, 15-6 in a Division II district final at Southeastern High School.

The Lady Shermans advance to a Division II regional semifinal Thursday, 6:30 p.m., at Wilmington High School against Kettering Archbishop Alter.

Westfall 15-15, Huntington 13-12
Coach Lori Merriman's Lady Mustangs captured their fifth district championship in the past six years, ending Huntington's season for the second straight year.

Westfall scored first in both games, but coach Lynnette Flack's Lady Huntsmen rallied each time to lead or come within one point of the Lady Mustangs.

"I am so proud of our kids," Flack said. "We went in there and played hard. These kids have nothing to be ashamed of."

After falling behind 12-7 in game one, Huntington pulled within 14-13 of Westfall on an ace by Emily Long, but Chelsea Popowski's kill delivered the game-winning point for the Lady Mustangs. Huntington led 12-11 in game two, but Popowski again delivered a key play -- a tip that tied the game 12-12 and started a run of four points to close out the match.

Popowski and SVC co-player of the year Kelsey Sewards had nine kills each and Popowski chipped in with two solo blocks and an assisted block. Sewards had 11 assists, one solo block, 10 digs and three aces among eight serving points.

Maleah Thornton led Westfall's scoring with nine points and had eight digs and four kills, Randi Rodgers five points and 16 assists, Kari Rodgers six kills and 15 digs and Beth Reed eight digs.

Ashleigh Cunningham had nine serving points, Shiloh Bethel six and Tiffany Carroll five for Huntington. Lindsey Grubb had eight kills and 19 digs, Nikkita Carroll eight kills, Courtney Jenkins 12 digs and Tiffany Carroll 13 assists for the Lady Huntsmen.

Unioto 12-15-15, Athens 15-10-6
Six lead changes and six ties highlighted the first game of the match, before coach Pam Doughty's Lady Shermans began their comeback in game two.

Game two ended on a sour note for the Lady Bulldogs, who were assessed a point for calling a timeout, which they did not have. The point was awarded with Unioto leading 14-10, thus squaring the match at a game each.

Unioto took a 7-1 lead in game three and led 11-6 when Amanda Preston came off the bench to serve up the last four points -- two coming on kills by Dennale Speakman.

Speakman was 28-for-29 hitting with 18 kills, 10 digs, three blocks and four points.

Jamie White had 11 points and 23 points on 44-for-44 setting and was 6-for-6 hitting with two kills and 15 digs. Chastity Neff had seven points and 11 assists on 38-for-42 setting, Katie Frey five points, eight kills on 17-for-21 hitting, seven digs and three blocks, Jessica Lewis nine digs and six kills on 10-for-11 hitting and Annie Matson 18-for-20 hitting with two kills and seven digs.

Adena 15-15, Portsmouth Clay 1-1
The Lady Warriors tied a school record for most victories (25) in a season in winning their eighth straight district championship.

The 1993 Adena team finished with a 25-2 record.

In winning three tournament games, Adena has allowed opponents just four points -- defeating Lucasville Valley 15-1, 15-1 in a sectional final and Racine Southern 15-0, 15-0 in a district semifinal earlier in the week.

Co-SVC player of the year Ashley Sowers led Adena against Clay with eight kills on 13-for-14 hitting. She also had five points, including an ace, three blocks and five digs.

Amanda Kinnamon was 7-for-7 hitting with three kills, three points, three blocks and four digs, Katie Roush 11-for-11 hitting with four kills and five points, including an ace, Erica Zurmehly 12 assists and seven points, including two aces, Summer Rinehart six points, Amanda Atchison three kills, Haley Halcomb five assists, Kortney Ward three points, including an ace, and Sara Smith one assist and an ace for one point.

Eastern ends Paint Valley's season
10/23/03

Beaver gained revenge for its only loss of the season with a 15-10, 14-16, 15-7 win over Paint Valley in a Division IV district lower bracket semifinal at Wellston High School Thursday evening.

The high-flying Eagles (23-1) will play Reedsville Eastern at 7 p.m., Saturday, at Wellston High School for the district championship. Reedsville Eastern defeated Portsmouth Notre Dame 15-3, 15-4 in Thursday's second semifinal.

Coach Lori Anderson's Lady Bearcats finish the season 13-11 -- including a 15-10, 15-10 win over Eastern in a mid-season tri-match at Whiteoak.

Eastern, which won game one of the match with a 12-0 run that erased a 4-0 Paint Valley start, jumped out to a 6-1 lead in game three only to have the scrappy Lady Bearcats reel off four straight points.

Back-to-back kills by Megan Ward capped the Paint Valley rally, but Eastern took command of the game and the match with a 6-0 spurt. Chelsea Eblin served Paint Valley's final two points of the match -- the last on a kill by Chassidy Birchfield -- to pull the Lady Bearcats within 12-7.

The Eagles' Rebecca Day -- co-player of the year in District 14 Division IV -- recorded her 17th kill of the match for Eastern's 13th point, then served up point No. 14 before the Eagles closed out the match.

Day finished with 18 kills.

Freshman Maggie Cooper led Paint Valley's serving with 10 points, followed by Tiffany Dailey with seven and Emmalee McKell and Eblin six each.

Paint Valley graduates only Birchfield and McKell from a squad that included a freshmen, seven sophomores and one junior.

Four SVC teams to district finals 
10/22/03

Four Scioto Valley Conference volleyball teams -- Adena, Huntington, Unioto and Westfall -- advanced to district finals with tournament victories Wednesday evening.

Unioto (18-6) outlasted Vincent Warren 6-15, 15-9, 15-13 to win a Division II district semifinal at Southeastern High School.

That sends the Shermans into a Saturday final at 3 p.m. against Athens, an 11-15, 15-13, 15-13 winner over Circleville in Wednesday's second semifinal. The final -- originally scheduled for 6 p.m. -- was changed to 1 p.m. and finally to 3 p.m. as a compromise between ACT testing Saturday morning and a scheduled event at Southeastern High School Saturday evening.

Huntington and Westfall will meet for the third time this season in the Division III upper bracket final at Waverly High School at 5 p.m., Saturday. Huntington (19-6) defeated previously unbeaten and No. 4 ranked Wheelersburg in a 16-14, 15-13 thriller. The Lady Pirates bow out of the tournament 23-1. 

Westfall (20-3) had a much easier time in defeating Rock Hill 15-3, 15-4.

Adena's unbeaten Scioto Valley Conference champions (24-0) breezed to a 15-0, 15-0 win over Racine Southern to advance to the Division IV upper bracket final at Wellston High School against Portsmouth Clay. Clay defeated South Webster 5-15, 15-6, 15-5  in Wednesday's other semifinal.

Saturday's championship match is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Wellston.

Unioto 6-15-15, Vincent Warren 15-9-13
The Lady Warriors had Unioto on the ropes in game three -- leading 13-10.

Dennale Speakman served four straight points -- two on kills by Katie Frey -- to put the Lady Shermans ahead 14-13. Two exchanges of service failed to produce a point until Jessica Lewis ended the match with her eighth serving point of the evening.

Speakman finished the evening with seven points, 11 digs and 16 kills on 32-for-36 hitting. Lewis was 17-for-19 hitting with four kills and 14 digs, Jamie White had seven points, 10 digs and was 50-for-51 setting with 21 assists and 7-for-7 hitting with two kills.

Chastity Neff had six points and 11 assists on 41-for-41 setting, Katie Frey 12 kills on 18-for-25 hitting, 12 digs and three blocks and Amanda Preston five points.

Saturday's final is a rematch of the regular season finale between Athens and Unioto -- won by the Lady Shermans 11-15, 15-2, 15-13.

Huntington 16-15, Wheelersburg 14-13
Huntington trailed 11-13 in both games before rallying to eliminate the Southern Ohio Conference champions.

The Lady Huntsmen fell behind in game one after jumping out to an early 9-3 lead.

Senior Lindsey Grubb led Huntington with 17 kills, nine points and 27 digs and sophomore Courtney Jenkins had seven points, 14 kills and 13 digs, Ashleigh Cunningham 14 digs, Tiffany Carroll 14 assists and five points, Shiloh Bethel 14 points, Nikkita Carroll six kills and Emily Long five points.

Huntington will square off against Westfall for the third time in the last two seasons in Saturday's final. Westfall swept all three matches last season -- including a sectional semifinal -- and took both regular season matches this year.

Westfall 15-15, Rock Hill 3-4
Rock Hill led 3-2 in game one before Maleah Thornton reeled off nine straight points -- including an ace -- in a 13-0 Westfall run to set the tone for the rest of the match.

Thornton finished with 15 points and five digs, Kelsey Sewards had four points, six kills, five digs and four assists, Nikki Ward two points, five kills and five digs, Kari Rodgers four points and five digs and Randi Rodgers two points and 10 assists.

The Lady Mustangs have won four district championships in the past five years.

Adena 15-15, Racine Southern 0-0
Adena's dominating performance included a perfect 43-for-43 serving with six aces and 43-for-45 hitting with 28 kills while handling just 11 service receives from Southern.

Seniors Ashley Sowers and Amanda Kinnamon had nine kills each, Katie Roush four kills, seven points, including two aces, Erica Zurmehly three kills and 22 assists and Sara Smith 10 points with two aces.

A win over Portsmouth Clay in Saturday's final would give the Lady Warriors a tie with the 1993 Adena team (25-2) for most wins in a single season.

It also would be Adena's eighth straight district championship.

SVC pair district players of the year
10/19/03

Dennale Speakman of Unioto and Ashley Sowers of Adena are players of the year for their respective divisions and Adena's Laura Smith is coach of the year in Division IV as selected by the District 14 Volleyball Coaches Association.

Speakman -- a junior -- is the player of the year in Division I-II and Sowers, co-player of the year in the Scioto Valley Conference, is the district's Division IV player of the year.

Smith was named coach of the year for leading Adena to a 22-0 regular season and a 14th consecutive Scioto Valley Conference volleyball championship.

Westfall's Kelsey Sewards, who shared player of the year honors with Sowers in the SVC, was passed over for that honor in Division III in favor of Adair Piquet of Wheelersburg, who also was named Division III state all-star match representative.

Speakman is joined on the Division I-II first team by teammate Katie Frey. The Shermans' Jamie White is on the second team.

Sewards and teammate Nikki Ward and Huntington's Lindsey Grubb are among the Division III first team selections. Courtney Jenkins of Huntington and Paige Halley of Zane Trace are on the second team.

Sowers shares Division IV player of the year honors with Beaver Eastern's Rebecca Day and is the district's D-IV representative to the state all-star match. Erica Zurmehly of Adena also is a first team selection and the Lady Warriors' Amanda Kinnamon and Tiffany Dailey of Paint Valley are second team selections.

Sowers, Zurmehly, Kinnamon, Sewards, Ward, Frey, White and Grubb all were selected to play in the District 14 all-star match at 7 p.m., Nov. 11, at Piketon High School.

The selections:
Division I-II

First team
Dennale Speakman Unioto
Katie Frey Unioto
Ashley Wise Washington CH
Kim Williams Circleville
Faren Stevens Northwest
Tracey Montgomery Northwest

Second team
Jamie White Unioto
Kristen Tisdale Logan Elm
Laura Waddle Miami Trace
Alli Cutlip Waverly
Ashley Borden Waverly
Morgan Mace Washington CH

Honorable mention
Sarah Garner Logan Elm
Jill Puckett Northwest

Player of the year -- Speakman
Division II state all-star match representative -- Wise
Coach of the year -- Judy Bayes, Northwest

Division III

First team
Adair Piquet Wheelersburg
Kelsey Sewards Westfall
Lindsey Grubb Huntington
Nikki Ward Westfall
Kendra Massie Wheelersburg
Korie Andrews Eastern Brown

Second team
Courtney Jenkins Huntington
Paige Halley Zane Trace
Cathy Cheek Wheelersburg
Laura Malone Minford
Sandy Preston Eastern Brown
Desiree Hickey North Adams

Honorable mention
Kim Weaver Portsmouth West
Sheena Spurgeon Piketon
Cassandra Bell Minford
Heather Koehler Eastern Brown

Player of the year -- Piquet
Division III state all-star match representative -- Piquet
Coach of the year -- Carol Bialkowski, Wheelersburg

Division IV

First team
Ashley Sowers Adena
Rebecca Day Eastern
Erica Zurmehly Adena
Amanda Clark Portsmouth Clay
Jennifer Fuller Beaver Eastern
Holly Emnet Portsmouth Notre Dame

Second team
Amanda Kinnamon Adena
Tiffany Dailey Paint Valley
Jade Downing Latham Western
Jodi Smith South Webster
Abbey Marshall New Boston
Mandy Merritt Lucasville Valley

Honorable mention
Katie Roush Adena
Alissa Moats Southeastern
Brittany Brewster Latham Western
Erica Snyder Portsmouth Clay
Ashley Fracia Portsmouth Notre Dame
Lyndsey Woodrum South Webster
Megan Pierce Franklin Furnace Green

Co-players of the year -- Sowers and Day
Division IV state all-star match representative -- Day
Coach of the year -- Laura Smith, Adena

North squad
Ashley Sowers Adena
Erica Zurmehly Adena
Amanda Kinnamon Adena
Kelsey Sewards Westfall
Nikki Ward Westfall
Katie Frey Unioto
Jamie White Unioto
Kim Williams Circleville
Kristen Tisdale Logan Elm
Laura Waddle Miami Trace
Lindsey Grubb Huntington
Ashley Wise Washington CH

South squad
Faren Stevens Northwest
Jill Puckett Northwest
Ashley Borden Waverly
Alli Cutlip Waverly
Korie Andrews Eastern Brown
Laura Malone Minford
Desiree Hickey North Adams
Amanda Clark Portsmouth Clay
Jade Downing Latham Western
Jodi Smith South Webster
Britanny Brewster Latham Western
Erica Snyder Portsmouth Clay

Five SVC teams win sectionals 
10/18/03

Five Scioto Valley Conference teams -- Adena, Huntington, Paint Valley, Westfall and Unioto -- captured sectional volleyball championships Saturday.

Unioto defeated Greenfield McClain 15-3, 15-2 in a semifinal and then outlasted Sheridan 14-16, 15-9, 15-9 in the Division II upper bracket final at Chillicothe High School. 

Huntington was a 15-3, 15-2 winner over Federal Hocking and Westfall defeated Wellston 15-1, 15-2 in Division III sectional finals at Vinton County High School. Adena routed Lucasville Valley 15-1, 15-1 and Paint Valley defeated Whiteoak 15-3, 15-5 in Division IV finals at Piketon High School.

Southeastern reached a Division IV final at Athens High School with a 15-0, 15-2 romp over South Gallia, but lost to Beaver Eastern 15-6, 15-3 for the sectional championship.

Unioto (17-6) advances to the Division II district at Southeastern High School for a semifinal match at 6 p.m., Wednesday, against Warren. 

Huntington (18-6) advances to the Division III district at Waverly High School for an upper bracket semifinal at 6 p.m., Wednesday, against unbeaten Wheelersburg.

Westfall (19-3) advances to the Division III district at Waverly High School for an upper bracket semifinal at 7:15 p.m., Wednesday, against Rock Hill.

Adena's 23-0 Scioto Valley Conference champions advance to the Division IV district at Wellston High School for an upper bracket semifinal at 6 p.m., Wednesday, against Racine Southern.

Paint Valley (13-10) advances to the Division IV district at Wellston High School for a semifinal match at 6 p.m., Thursday, against Beaver Eastern.

Unioto 15-15, Greenfield McClain 3-2
McClain led briefly at 1-0 before Unioto's 10-0 run set the tone for the rest of the match.

Jessica Lewis scored seven points for the Lady Shermans and was 7-for-8 hitting with two kills and six digs, Jamie White had six points and was 30-for-30 setting with nine assists and five digs, Dennale Speakman had five points and was 11-for-13 hitting with eight kills and 12 digs, Katie Frey had four points, including three aces, and was 16-for-17 hitting with seven kills, Chastity Neff had four points and was 23-for-23 setting with eight assists, Amanda Preston had four points and Katie Tuttle six digs.

Unioto 14-15-15, Sheridan 16-9-9
Sheridan's Jessie Slack -- a 5-10 junior middle hitter -- kept this match close all the way through with her hitting and blocking.

Unioto rallied from a 10-6 deficit in game one to take a 14-12 lead, but couldn't hold on as the Lady Generals' Erica Culver served three straight points and Amanda Kroft served up the clincher.

The Lady Shermans grabbed early leads in games two and three and then held off late rallies by Sheridan.

Lewis led Unioto with 12 points on 18-for-18 serving and was 16-for-16 hitting with seven kills, five assisted blocks and 18 digs.

Frey had nine points, including three aces, and was 14-for-22 hitting with five kills and 13 digs, White had nine points and was 45-for-46 setting with 18 assists and seven digs, Speakman had six points and was 24-for-26 hitting with 11 kills and 12 digs, Neff had four points and was 47-for-47 setting with 13 assists, Annie Matson was 13-for-15 hitting with four kills and five digs, Holly Schoenholtz was 8-for-10 hitting with four kills and six assisted blocks, Preston had four points with two aces and Tuttle five digs.

Huntington 15-15, Federal Hocking 3-2
Nikkita Carroll and Courtney Jenkins had seven kills each and Lindsey Grubb and Tiffany Carroll combined for 16 serving points.

Grubb had nine points, five kills and 11 digs, Carroll seven points, including two aces, and 14 assists and Cunningham and Long six digs each.

Westfall 15-15, Wellston 1-2
Kelsey Sewards had eight points and was 5-for-5 hitting with three kills and eight assists, Nikki Ward had five points and was 10-for-11 hitting with eight kills and Kari Rodgers and Beth Reed had seven points apiece. 

Reed also had seven digs and Randi Rodgers had six assists.

Adena 15-15, Lucasville Valley 1-1
Senior Amanda Kinnamon served half of Adena's 30 points and contributed two kills.

Summer Rinehart served seven points for the Lady Warriors, Haley Halcomb had six assists, Katie Roush six kills and five points, Ashley Sowers six points, Amanda Atchison two kills and Erica Zurmehly 10 assists.

Paint Valley 15-15, Whiteoak 3-5
Tiffany Dailey had five points, including an ace, 16 assists, three kills and five digs to lead the Lady Bearcats.

Chelsea Eblin had six points, six kills and five digs, Maggie Cooper three points, two kills and seven digs, Emmalee McKell eight points with two aces, five kills and two digs, Megan Ward four kills, Kelsey Lloyd seven points and four digs and Mary Depugh two kills.

Southeastern 15-15, South Gallia 0-2
Kaleena Carroll had nine points and nine assists, Holly Smith seven points and Alissa Moats and Megan Patterson six kills each for Southeastern.

Beaver Eastern 15-15, Southeastern 6-3
Jessica Dixon and Terra Kinzer had seven digs each and Moats six blocks for the Lady Panthers.

River Valley ends ZT season 
10/16/03

River Valley ended Zane Trace's season 15-13, 15-7 in a Division III sectional volleyball semifinal at Vinton County High School Thursday evening.

River Valley advances to a sectional final at 6:30 p.m., Saturday, at Vinton County against No. 3 seed Alexander.

Zane Trace led 13-11 in game one before River Valley took control of the game and match. 

Paige Halley led the Lady Pioneers -- who finish the season 4-19 -- with nine kills, two serving aces, three solo blocks and six digs. Kendra Lallier had 16 assists and seven digs, Lynli Zilli four points, five kills and seven digs and Allison Cox four points, including two aces.

Huntington to sectional final 
10/15/03

Huntington defeated Belpre 15-6, 15-5 in a sectional semifinal at Vinton County High School Wednesday evening to advance to a 3:30 p.m. final Saturday against Federal Hocking.

Federal Hocking advanced with a win over Lynchburg Clay.

In Wednesday's first game at Vinton County, New Lexington ended Piketon's season in a 17-15, 7-15, 15-6 marathon to advance to a 2 p.m. final Saturday against Nelsonville York. Piketon finishes the season 7-15.

In a Division II match at Chillicothe High School, Greenfield McClain downed Hillsboro 15-8, 15-11 to earn an 11 a.m. semifinal berth Saturday opposite Unioto.

Sophomore Courtney Jenkins had seven kills and five serving points that included three aces in Huntington's win. The Lady Huntsmen (17-6) also got six kills and seven points from Lindsey Grubb and six points each from Tiffany Carroll and Shiloh Bethel.

Adena, Westfall rankings unchanged 
10/15/03

Adena continues to be ranked fourth in Division IV in the weekly poll of the Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association and Westfall remains seventh in Division III.

Westfall -- which finished the regular season with an 18-3 record -- amassed 118 points after climbing from 20th in the first poll of the season. Huron (21-0) sits atop the Division III poll.

Adena garnered two first place votes after finishing 22-0 -- a school record for regular season victories. The Lady Warriors' 248 points trail only St. Henry (21-1), Minster (19-1) and Centerburg (21-1).

Sowers, Sewards co-players of year 
10/13/03

When they weren't playing against each other, Adena's Ashley Sowers and Westfall's Kelsey Sewards were on their cell phones calling each other soon after every volleyball game this fall to see how the other did.

The two close friends have much in common.

Their mothers -- Sally Stinson Sewards and Ruth Ann Ater Sowers -- grew up in Clarksburg and were most valuable seniors on their respective Adena volleyball teams. They have remained good friends.

Kelsey and Ashley's grandmothers were part of a softball team that went to the state many years ago and they, too, remain best friends.

When Kelsey's family returned to this area from Illinois, one of the first people Kelsey met was Ashley. 

Now they have one more thing in common -- 2003 co-players of the year in Scioto Valley Conference volleyball. Both were named to the 15-member all-conference team selected by the league's coaches and released Monday.

Sewards -- the league's 2002 player of the year -- is a three-time all-conference selection and Sowers is a two-time choice and was honorable mention as a sophomore.

The league's coach of the year for 2003 is Lori Strawser Anderson of Paint Valley, a former Bearcat player who took over the program this season and produced a winning overall record (12-10). Although Paint Valley finished 6-8 in the SVC, the sophomore-dominated Bearcats gained a reputation as tenacious scrappers who let nothing hit the floor without an all-out effort. 

Scioto Valley Conference
all-league volleyball team
2003-04

Player                             School                     Year
Amanda Kinnamon         Adena                    12
Katie Roush                 Adena                     11
Ashley Sowers              Adena                    12
Erica Zurmehly             Adena                     12
Tiffany Carroll              Huntington               12
Lindsey Grubb              Huntington               12
Courtney Jenkins          Huntington               10
Tiffany Dailey              Paint Valley              10
Katie Frey                   Unioto                     12
Dennale Speakman        Unioto                     11
Jamie White                 Unioto                     12
Kelsey Sewards            Westfall                   12
Nikki Ward                   Westfall                   12
Maleah Thornton           Westfall                   11
Paige Halley                 Zane Trace               11

Honorable mention
Player                             School
Amanda Atchison          Adena
Haley Halcomb              Adena
Shiloh Bethel                Huntington
Nikkita Carroll               Huntington
Chelsea Eblin                Paint Valley
Emmalee McKell             Paint Valley
Sheena Spurgeon          Piketon
Whittney Smith             Piketon
Jessica Dixon                Southeastern
Alissa Moats                 Southeastern
Jessica Lewis                Unioto
Chastity Neff                Unioto
Chelsea Popowski          Westfall
Randy Rodgers              Westfall
Kendra Lallier                 Zane Trace
Justine Zilli                    Zane Trace

Co-players of the year: Ashley Sowers, Adena; Kelsey Sewards, Westfall.
Coach of the year: Lori Anderson, Paint Valley.
League champions: Adena (14-0).
Reserve champions: Huntington (13-1).
Junior high league champion: Adena (7-0).
Junior tournament champion: Huntington.

Huntington, Unioto, ZT sweep matches 
10/11/03

Huntington, Unioto and Zane Trace swept tri-matches in non-conference volleyball Saturday as Zane Trace defeated Greenfield McClain 15-8, 15-12 and West Union 15-5, 15-9, Huntington drilled Lynchburg Clay 15-1, 15-3 and Peebles 15-2, 15-4 and Unioto downed Logan Elm 15-7, 15-3 and Athens 11-15, 15-2, 15-13.

Zane Trace 15-15, Greenfield McClain 8-12
Paige Halley led the Lady Pioneers with four solo blocks and 11 kills on 19-for-21 hitting.

Kendra Lallier was 54-for-56 setting with 16 assists and had seven serving points, including three aces, Katie Bost had eight digs and seven polnts with three aces, Lynli Zilli seven points and two aces and Anna Gray five solo blocks.

Zane Trace 15-15, West Union 5-9
Zane Trace doubled its win total for the season with the sweep as Halley added eight more kills to her day's total with 12-for-12 hitting.

Lallier was 25-for-28 setting with 10 assists and three kills, Bost had 10 points with four aces, Lynli Zilli seven points and 10 digs and Justine Zilli seven points.

Zane Trace finishes the regular season 4-18 and begins tournament play at Vinton County Thursday evening at 7:15 against River Valley.

Huntington 15-15, Lynchburg Clay 1-3
Emily Long's nine points with five aces and 12 digs led the Lady Huntsmen while Courtney Jenkins had seven kills, Lindsey Grubb 11 digs and Shiloh Bethel 10 points.

Huntington 15-15, Peebles 2-4
Long and Grubb combined for nine aces on 21 serving points.

Grubb recorded six aces in 12 points and Long three on nine points.

Huntington, which finishes the regular season 16-6, plays Belpre at 6:45 p.m., Wednesday, in a semifinal of the Division III sectional at Vinton County.

Unioto 15-15, Logan Elm 7-3
This was a match between the top two seeds in the Division II sectional tournament at Chillicothe High School.

Dennale Speakman and Katie Frey led the way for the No. 1 seeded team in the sectional with a combined 20 kills and 13 digs.

Speakman was 15-for-18 hitting with 11 kills, six digs and two blocks and Frey was 13-for-16 hitting with nine kills and seven digs.

Jamie White had 12 points with three aces, five digs and was 34-for-34 setting with 16 assists, Jessica Lewis was 7-for-11 hitting with one kill and four blocks, Katie Tuttle had seven digs and Chastity Neff was 18-for-18 setting with six assists.

Unioto 11-15-15, Athens 15-2-13
After splitting the first two games, the Lady Shermans got a lift off the bench from Amanda Preston, who served nine straight points, highlighted by a pair of aces.

Lewis served 12 points with three aces and was 24-for-26 hitting with six kills, 11 digs and four solo blocks, Frey had six points with three aces and was 22-for-29 hitting with five kills and nine digs, Speakman had five points and two aces and was 22-for-28 hitting with 10 kills and seven digs.

White served five points, was 6-for-6 hitting with four kills and 10 digs and was 54-for-55 setting with 16 assists and Neff recorded 11 assists on 41-for-41 setting.

Unioto's tournament opener is Saturday in an 11 a.m. semifinal against the first round winner between Hillsboro and Greenfield McClain.

Adena wins gold volleyball 
10/09/03

Adena established more standards of volleyball excellence with a 15-1, 15-1 breeze past Zane Trace in the wrap-up of the Scioto Valley Conference season Thursday evening. 

The victory capped a second consecutive 14-0 SVC season for coach Laura Smith's Lady Warriors -- the first back-to-back gold volleyball seasons in the SVC since Adena turned the trick a decade ago (1991-92-93). 

The team's 22-0 regular season finish is a school record for most regular season wins -- eclipsing the the previous 19-0 set by the 1992 team. The school record for most wins in a season is 25-2 set in 1993.

In other games, Westfall finished second alone behind Adena with a 15-6, 15-5 win over Huntington, Unioto wound up third with a 15-11, 15-1 win over Paint Valley and Piketon outlasted Southeastern 8-15, 15-8, 15-5.

Adena 15-15, Zane Trace 1-1
Senior Courtney Cochenour served the final point of the regular season for the Lady Warriors as the team's six seniors were on the floor for the finish.

Adena was 39-for-40 serving and 35-for-39 hitting with 19 kills.

Amanda Kinnamon had eight kills to go with seven points, including two aces, Ashley Sowers two kills, seven points, five digs and two blocks, Katie Roush four kills, two points and seven digs, Eric Zurmehly two kills, nine assists and two points, Haley Halcomb four assists and one kill and Sara Smith five points and one kill.

For Zane Trace, Paige Halley had two kills, six digs and one block, Allison Cox two kills, Kendra Lallier 28 sets and four assists and Lynli Zilli and Danielle Harrington four digs each.

Adena won the reserve match 15-5, 15-8 as Leah Hirsch had 11 hits and five kills, Tara Knauff six hits and two kills, Catherine Glandorf 17 sets and nine assists, Lisa Hirsch 20 sets and seven assists, seven points, including five aces, Samantha Shaffer 12 hits and seven kills, Lisa Martin five points, including four aces, and Jennifer Fout nine points with two aces.

Westfall 15-15, Huntington 6-5
Kelsey Sewards and Nikki Ward combined for 15 kills as Westfall put the match away with an 11-0 run to erase an early 4-2 Huntington lead in game two.

Sewards was 9-for-11 hitting with eight kills, five points and five assists and Ward was 10-for-11 with seven kills, five points and 10 digs. 

Maleah Thornton had 10 points, Kari Rodgers two points and 10 digs, Beth Reed two digs and Randi Rodgers six points and 13 assists for Westfall.

Courtney Jenkins led Huntington with eight kills and 11 digs, Lindsey Grubb had five kills, nine digs and six points and Ashleigh Cunningham six digs.

"We really played hard," Huntington coach Lynette Flack said of the Lady Huntsmen.

Huntington won the reserve match to wrap up an outright junior varsity championship.

Westfall won a freshmen match 13-15, 15-11, 15-6. Brittany Cunningham served 13 points for the Huntington freshmen, who finish the season 5-4.

Huntington hosts Lynchburg Clay and Peebles in a tri-match beginning at 11 a.m., Saturday.

Unioto 15-15, Paint Valley 11-1
Paint Valley led 5-0 in game one until Dennale Speakman woke up the Shermans with a kill.

The Bearcats still led 10-5 -- mainly on the strength of six serving aces -- before Unioto took control of the match with a 10-1 run.

Speakman was 14-15 hitting with seven kills and three blocks, Katie Frey 12-for-13 hitting with five kills, five points, seven digs and three blocks, Jessica Lewis 10-for-10 hitting with two kills, nine digs and 10 points and Annie Matson 7-for-8 hitting with one kill and six digs.

Jamie White had five servikng points and four assists on 21-for-21 setting and Chastity Neff 18-for-18 setting with five assists.

Megan Ward had three of Paint Valley's six aces and Tiffany Dailey, Chelsea Eblin and Chassidy Birchfield one each.

Dailey had five points, 12 assists and seven digs, Eblin four kills and three digs, Maggie Cooper three digs, Emmalee McKell two kills and eight digs, Tabitha Hatfield three digs, Birchfield one kill and five digs and Ward four points, five kills, two blocks and three digs.

Paint Valley won the reserve match 15-11, 15-13.

Paint Valley is at Wheelersburg Saturday for an 11 a.m. tri-match.

Piketon 8-15-15, Southeastern 15-8-5
Dana Jones -- a seldom-used senior -- came off the bench on senior night to spark the Lady Redstreaks to a come-from-behind win.

With setter Erin Johnson -- another senior -- battling a bout of mononucleosis, Jones had eight assists in games two and three to rally her team.

Whittney Smith had 11 kills, Melissa Short 11 digs and Johnson 10 assists.

Alissa Moats led Southeastern with 22 hits, nine kills, 12 digs, four blocks and seven points. Terra Kinzer had eight digs and Megan Patterson six points.

Piketon faces Eastern at 10 a.m., Saturday, in the annual Pike County Quad at Eastern.

Adena win streaks intact  
10/07/03

Adena preserved its homecourt and SVC winning streaks with a 15-3, 15-9 win over Unioto in Scioto Valley Conference volleyball Tuesday evening.

Winners of 14 straight league titles, Adena increased its homecourt winning streak to 67 matches and its winning streak against SVC opponents to 36 matches in a row.

Elsewhere Tuesday evening, Westfall defeated Piketon 15-5, 15-4, Huntington whipped Southeastern 15-0, 15-2 and Paint Valley downed Zane Trace 15-4, 15-12.

With Unioto's loss, Westfall takes over sole possession of second place with the Lady Shermans and Huntington sharing third. Huntington travels to Westfall for a key regular season finale Thursday evening.

Westfall can claim second place outright or Huntington can forge a three-way tie with a win.

Adena 15-15, Unioto 3-9
"They had a game plan and they came out and executed. You have to give them credit," Unioto head coach Pam Doughty said of the Lady Warriors.

Adena executed to the tune of a 9-0 start in game one and a 5-0 finish to game two.

Ashley Sowers was 24-for-25 hitting for Adena with 14 kills and had four points and eight digs.

Haley Halcomb added eight assists and five digs, Amanda Kinnamon six kills, three points and seven digs, Sara Smith two kills and four points, including an ace, Katie Roush three kills, five points, including two aces, and 18 digs, Erica Zurmehly 16 assists, 12 points, eight digs and one kill and Amanda Atchison two kills.

Katie Frey was 21-for-25 hitting for Unioto with seven kills and four points, Dennale Speakman 18-for-22 with five kills and 18 digs, Annie Matson 14-for-15 with two kills and nine digs, Chastity Neff seven assists and four points and Jamie White nine assists.

Unioto won the reserve match 15-17, 15-9, 15-11 to knock Adena out of a share of first place with Huntington with one game remaining.

Adena is at Zane Trace and Unioto hosts Paint Valley Thursday in league finales.

Westfall 15-15, Piketon 5-4
Kelsey Sewards' 11 points, including three aces, seven kills and 11 assists helped the Lady Mustangs take over sole possession of second place behind Adena in the SVC standings.

Nikki Ward contributed six points, 10 kills and six digs, Maleah Thornton six points, Kari Rodgers four points, Chelsea Popowski six points and Randi Rodgers two points and 13 assists.

Whittney Smith with four kills and Ashley Short with seven digs were Piketon's leaders.

Westfall hosts Huntington and Piketon hosts Southeastern to close out the SVC season Thursday evening.

Huntington 15-15, Southeastern 0-2
Lindsey Grubb recorded 10 kills, 10 digs and six points for the Lady Huntsmen while Courtney Jenkins had five kills, eight digs and eight points and Tiffany Carroll 10 points.

Huntington's reserves took over sole possession of first place in the junior varsity standings with a 15-17, 15-11, 15-6 win.

Paint Valley 15-15, Zane Trace 4-12
Paint Valley jumped out to a 12-0 lead in game one and never looked back in nailing down sole possession of fifth place in the SVC standings.

Tiffany Dailey led the Lady Bearcats with 13 points, including two aces, 11 assists, three kills and two digs. Chelsea Eblin added five kills, two blocks and four digs, Maggie Cooper three points, two kills, one block and 10 digs, Emmalee McKell seven points, including two aces, one kill and six digs, Chassidy Birchfield four kills and one block and Megan Ward six points, including three aces, and one kill.

Kendra Lallie had 33 sets for Zane Trace with three assists and three kills, Paige Halley three kills, seven digs and four points, including an ace, and Allison Cox six points, including two aces.

Zane Trace won the reserve match 15-13, 15-11.

Zane Trace hosts Adena and Paint Valley is at Unioto Thursday.

Lady Mustangs' historic season ends
11/06/03

The most successful volleyball season in the history of Westfall High School ended in a Division III state tournament semifinal loss to Orrville 15-1, 15-2 at the Nutter Center on the campus of Wright State University in Dayton Thursday evening.

The Lady Red Riders -- winners of 27 straight matches since losing their season opener -- face Versailles in Saturday's 11 a.m. championship at the Nutter Center. Versailles (22-6) defeated Genoa Area 15-13, 15-8 in Thursday evening's first semifinal.

Westfall's Lady Mustangs finish the season 23-4 -- a school record for wins in a season and the first Westfall team in any sport to reach a state tournament final four.

The program loses only two seniors from this year's squad -- Kelsey Sewards, a first team Division III all-Ohioan and Scioto Valley Conference co-player of the year, and Nikki Ward, honorable mention all-Ohio and all-SVC.

It wasn't that Westfall played that badly, but the Red Riders played that well -- especially the team's two first-team all-staters, TaNeisha Winters and Erica Short. Winters -- the team's lone senior -- is a 5-11 outside hitter and Short is a 6-2 junior middle hitter.

Together they are a devastating pair for opponents to handle.

They controlled the net with seven kills apiece and accounted for 19 of Orrville's 30 serving points. Winters served the final 12 points of the first game and Short the final three points of the match.

Sewards had six kills to lead Westfall and Ward one -- the only kills of the evening for the Lady Mustangs, who were blocked repeatedly at the net by Winters, Short and 5-10 sophomore Ashley Hersberger, who had five kills.

Maleah Thornton's serve and Sewards' first kill of the evening tied game one at 1-1 and Beth Reed served the first point of game two for a 1-0 Lady Mustang lead. Another Thornton serve and Sewards kill ended an 8-0 run by Orrville in game two, but the rest of the match belonged to Winters, Short and company. 

Adena clinches 14th straight title 
10/02/03

Adena defeated Southeastern 15-2, 15-3 Thursday evening to clinch the Lady Warriors' 14th consecutive Scioto Valley Conference volleyball championship.

Coupled with Westfall's 15-11, 15-7 win at Unioto, Adena holds a three-game lead with two league games remaining. 

Adena will be playing for back-to-back gold volleyballs -- representing unbeaten SVC seasons -- in the final week of the season. One of those matches is at home Tuesday against Unioto, which now shares second place with Westfall. 

A 66-match homecourt winning streak and a 35-match SVC winning streak also will be on the line Tuesday.

Back-to-back gold volleyballs hasn't been achieved since Adena turned the trick 1991-93. 

Westfall 15-15, Unioto 11-7
"When it was 9-1 it wasn't because of anything we did," Unioto's Pam Doughty said of her team's collapse after leading 9-1 in game one.

"They (Westfall) were just messing up," she added. "Once they got their act together it was all over."

Unioto's front line of Dennale Speakman, Katie Frey and Jessica Lewis managed just 10 kills -- two fewer than Westfall's Kelsey Sewards. Sewards and running mate Nikki Ward were 39-for-41 hitting with 20 kills.

Sewards was 22-for-23 in the hitting department and Ward 17-for-18 with eight kills.

After Unioto bolted to a 9-1 lead, Westfall ran off the next 12 points -- nine behind the serving of Kari Rodgers -- for a 13-9 edge. Jamie White got Unioto within 13-11 with two serving points, but Maleah Thornton served up the winning points for the Lady Mustangs.

Westfall broke open game two with a 7-0 run to break a 5-5 tie.

Sewards also had one assisted block, seven assists, five points and 13 digs, Ward two assisted blocks and two solo blocks and 10 digs, Randi Rodgers 30-for-31 setting with nine assists, Kari Rodgers 13 digs and 11 points and Maleah Thornton 14 digs.

Speakman was 16-for-18 hitting with seven kills and nine digs, Frey 9-for-16 with two kills and nine digs, Lewis 11-for-14 with one kill and seven digs and Jamie White five points and seven assists for Unioto.

Unioto won the reserve match 15-8, 15-8.

Unioto is at Adena and Piketon at Westfall Tuesday. 

Adena 15-15, Southeastern 2-3
The tale of the tape is in the hitting where the Lady Warriors were 48-for-50 led by Ashley Sowers and Amanda Kinnamon with six kills each.

Sowers also had two points, two blocks and three digs, Kinnamon 12 points, including an ace, one block and four digs, Haley Halcomb five assists and five digs, Sara Smith seven points, including three aces, Katie Roush eight points and four digs and Erica Zurmehly two kills, 14 assists, seven points, including an ace, and one block.

Adena hosts Unioto Tuesday and is at Zane Trace Thursday while Southeastern is at Huntington Tuesday and at Piketon Thursday.

Huntington 15-15, Zane Trace 2-5
Huntington can finish no worse than fourth with the win and can finish as high as second depending on what happens in the final week of the season.

The Lady Huntsmen close out with Southeastern at home Tuesday and at Westfall Thursday.

Emily Long led Huntington with 11 serving points and four assists, Ashleigh Cunningham had nine digs, Lindsey Grubb seven kills and Courtney Jenkins eight kills.

Paige Halley had five kills, six digs and a solo block for Zane Trace, Kendra Lallier 22 sets and nine assists and Lynli Zilli six digs.

Huntington won the reserve match 15-7, 15-11 to remain tied with Adena atop the junior varsity standings.

Zane Trace is at Paint Valley Tuesday and at home with Adena Thursday.

Paint Valley 15-15, Piketon 5-14
Tiffany Dailey and Chelsea Eblin served 21 points, including six aces, as Paint Valley improved to 10-8 overall and clinched a fifth place finish in the SVC.

Dailey also had 16 assists, seven digs and two kills, Eblin five kills, four blocks and two digs, Maggie Cooper four kills and five digs, Emmalee McKell one kill, two assists and six digs, Megan Ward four kills and five digs and Chassidy Birchfield five points, six kills, one dig and one block.

Paint Valley hosts Zane Trace Tuesday and is at Unioto Thursday to wind up the SVC campaign while Piketon is at Westfall Tuesday and home against Southeastern Thursday.

Paint Valley aces Lynchburg Clay 
10/01/03

Paint Valley served up 16 aces in a 15-3, 15-1 non-conference volleyball win at Lynchburg Clay Wednesday evening.

Maggie Cooper led the Lady Bearcats (9-8) with 12 points, including eight aces. She also had one assist.

Tiffany Dailey had eight points, including four aces, nine assists and one dig, Chelsea Eblin five points with two aces and three kills, Emmalee McKell three points with one ace and one dig, Chassidy Birchfield two points with one ace and five kills and Megan Ward four kills and one dig.

Paint Valley won the reserve match 15-1, 15-3.

Paint Valley hosts Piketon in a Scioto Valley Conference match Thursday evening.

Unioto, Westfall stalk Adena 
09/30/03

Unioto remained two games back of league-leading Adena in Scioto Valley Conference volleyball Tuesday evening with an 8-15, 15-13, 15-7 win over Huntington.

The loss -- coupled with Adena's 15-7, 15-3 win over Piketon --  mathematically eliminates Huntington from title consideration. Huntington trails Adena by four games with three conference games remaining.

Only Unioto and Westfall -- which meet Thursday at Unioto -- can catch the Lady Warriors. Westfall remained three games back with a 15-4, 15-4 win over Paint Valley. 

Southeastern posted its first SVC win of the season Tuesday evening 15-10, 8-15, 15-2 over Zane Trace.

Unioto 8-15-15, Huntington 15-13-7
"Our game at the net changed the match," Unioto coach Pam Doughty said of her team's comeback.

The win avenged one of Unioto's two losses in the SVC.

Unioto's net play produced five players involved in at least three blocks apiece -- led by Jessica Lewis with six. She also was 14-for-15 hitting with seven kills and had 10 digs.

Dennale Speakman was 28-for-36 hitting with 12 kills, seven digs, nine points and three blocks, Katie Frey 17-for-21 hitting with five kills, 11 digs and three blocks, Annie Matson 17-for-17 with six hills, Holly Schoenholtz four blocks, Amanda Preston off the bench with seven points, Jamie White seven points, 53-for-54 setting with 14 assists and three digs and Chastity Neff six points, 41-for-41 setting with 15 assists.

Tiffany Carroll had 10 points, including five aces, and 17 assists for Huntington, Courtney Jenkins 11 kills and 19 digs, Emily Long 13 digs and Lindsey Grubb 12 points, 10 kills and 15 digs.

Huntington won the reserve match 15-4, 15-11 to remain tied with Adena for first place.

Zane Trace is at Huntington and Westfall at Unioto Thursday.

Adena 15-15, Piketon 7-3
Adena outscored Piketon 25-4 after the Lady Redstreaks led 6-5 early in game one.

The Lady Warriors can clinch their 14th straight league title with a win at Southeastern Thursday and a Westfall win at Unioto.

Ashley Sowers had seven kills, five points, one solo block and four digs for Adena, Amanda Kinnamon three kills, six points, including two aces, and three solo blocks, Summer Rinehart five points and three digs, Haley Halcomb four assists and two digs, Sara Smith one kill, two points, both aces, and one block, Katie Roush six kills and three digs, Erica Zurmehly one kill, 12 assists, three points, including two aces, and Courtney Cochenour four points, including two aces.

Adena won the reserve match 15-11, 15-3 as Liza Hirsch had 21 sets and nine assists, Catherine Glandon 14 sets and four assists, Leah Hirsch 12 hits and eight kills, Jennifer Fout 12 points, including three aces, and Lisa Martin seven points, including two aces.

Adena is at Southeastern and Piketon at Paint Valley Thursday.

Westfall 15-15, Paint Valley 4-4
Kelsey Sewards led the Lady Mustangs with 14-for-17 hitting with eight kills, five assists and seven digs.

Nikki Ward had four points, Maleah Thornton seven points, Kari Rodgers one point and 10 digs, Beth Reed 12 points and Randi Rodgers six points and 11 assists.

Tiffany Dailey had six assists, two kills and three digs for Paint Valley, Tabitha Hatfield three points, including an ace, Cheslea Eblin three kills, one block and four digs, Emmalee McKell one assist and seven digs, Megan Ward two kills and Chassidy Birchfield two points, two kills, two blocks and three digs.

Westfall is at Unioto Thursday and Paint Valley is at Lynchburg Clay Wednesday.

Southeastern 15-8-15, Zane Trace 10-15-2
Southeastern's win ties the Lady Panthers with Zane Trace for seventh place.

Alissa Moats had 16 kills, Holly Smith 11 assists and nine points, Jessica Dixon 12 digs, Hannah Kinzer 10 points and Megan Patterson eight points for Southeastern.

Kendra Lallier led Zane Trace with 48-for-51 setting with 12 assists, four aces and six digs. Paige Halley had nine kills, Ashli Bower eight digs, Allison Cox 10 points, six digs and three aces and Justine Zilli six digs.

Southeastern won the reserve match 15-3, 15-10 behind Stefanie Hunter's seven assists and Jessica Bennett with five kills and Kendall Mitten with 10 points.

Westfall climbs to 8th in poll 
09/30/03

Westfall continues to climb in the Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association's weekly poll.

The Lady Mustangs (14-3) vaulted from 15th last week to eighth in Division III in the latest poll released Tuesday.

Unbeaten Adena (18-0) continues to hold down the fourth spot in Division IV. The Lady Warriors garnered two first place votes. Beaver Eastern (13-1) is 14th in Division IV.

Paint Valley thumps McClain 
09/29/03

Paint Valley thumped Greenfield McClain 15-0, 15-9 Monday evening in the first of four matches in four days.

The McClain match was originally part of a tri-match postponed earlier in the season. The other half of the tri-match will be made up at Lynchburg Clay Wednesday evening -- sandwiched between Scioto Valley Conference matches with Westfall and Piketon, Tuesday and Thursday, respectively.

Megan Ward's six kills sparked the Lady Bearcats to their eighth win of the season against seven losses. Ward also had two digs.

Tiffany Dailey served a team-high 13 points, including one ace, to go with nine assists and one kill. Chelsea Eblin served seven points, including three aces, and had one kill, Maggie Cooper one point on an ace, one kill and one dig, Emmalee McKell four points, two kills and three digs, Chassidy Birchfield three points, including two aces, three digs, one kill and one block and Tabitha Hatfield two points, including an ace.

Top SVC teams perfect Saturday 
09/27/03

Adena, Unioto, Huntington and Westfall -- the top four teams in Scioto Valley Conference volleyball -- combined for an 8-0 record against non-conference opponents Saturday with unbeaten Adena notching wins over Grove City, Westland and Bishop Ready.

Coach Laura Smith's Lady Warriors are 18-0 as they enter the stretch run of their bid for a 14th straight SVC championship.

Adena defeated Grove City 15-3, 15-0, Westland 15-8, 15-6 and Bishop Ready 15-8, 16-14.

Westfall defeated Miami Trace 15-2, 15-6 and Hamilton Township 15-6, 15-10, Huntington downed North Adams 15-6, 15-6 and Ripley 15-1, 15-4 and Unioto was a 15-3, 15-9 winner over Washington CH.

Adena 15-15, Grove City 3-0
In game one, Sara Smith had a nine-point serving run, including three aces, and Erica Zurmehly had an eight-point serving run in game two, including four aces.

Zurmehly finished the match with five kills, 15 assists and 12 points, including seven aces.

Ashley Sowers had five kills, four points, one block and seven digs, Amanda Kinnamon two kills and one block, Katie Roush four kills, three points and three digs and Amanda Atchison four kills.

Adena 15-15, Westland 8-6
Five players had four or more kills in the Lady Warriors' sweep of their Ohio Capital Conference foe.

Sowers and Zurmehly had six kills each, Kinnamon five and Roush and Atchison four each.

Haley Halcomb had four assists, Sowers three points and eight digs, Kinnamon seven points and three blocks, Smith nine points, including an ace, and two assists, Roush eight points, Zurmehly eight assists, two points and five digs and Atchison three assists and one block.

Adena 15-16, Bishop Ready 8-14
"Ready is a nice team; they attacked and served aggressively," Smith said. 

"We were up 10-5 in the second game and they tied it at 11, then went up 14-11, but we held on to get the win in two," the Adena coach continued.

Kinnamon and Sowers were the leaders with Kinnamon having 10 kills, seven points and two blocks and Sowers nine kills, five points and 18 digs. 

Summer Rinehart had five points, seven digs and one ace, Halcomb seven assists and three digs, Sara Smith two kills, three points and three digs, Roush four kills five points, 13 digs and one ace, Zurmehly three kills, 22 assists, six points and one ace and Atchison five kills and one block.

"We played thse three matches in 3 1/2 hours starting at 9 a.m. and finishing at 12:25. A good morning's work," Laura Smith concluded.

Unioto 15-15, Washington CH 3-9
Dennale Speakman led the Lady Shermans with 11 points, eight digs and six kills on 8-for-8 hitting while Katie Frey had seven kills on 9-for-10 hitting and seven points.

Annie Matson was 6-for-6 hitting with two kills, Jessica Lewis had four points, six digs and two blocks, Katy Hinty four points, Jamie White 10 assists on 18-for-18 setting and Chastity Neff four assists on 9-for-9 setting.

Westfall 15-15, Miami Trace 2-6
Maleah Thornton had 14 points on 17-for-17 serving and had 12 digs and Kelsey Sewards had six points, 10 assists and eight kills on 12-for-12 hitting. 

Kari Rodgers had four points, five kills and seven digs, Randi Rodgers five points and 13 assists, Chelsea Popowski seven kills and Nikki Ward five kills.

Westfall 15-15, Hamilton Township 9-10
Westfall finished the match on an 11-1 run in game two after trailing 9-4.

Kari Rodgers served 12 points, including three aces, on 13-for-14 serving, Sewards had seven kills, seven assists, six digs and seven points, Beth Reed seven digs and seven points, Randi Rodgers 11 assists, Ward seven kills and two points and Popowski six kills.

Huntington 15-15, North Adams 6-6
Courtney Jenkins had seven kills and four blocks, Lindsey Grubb five kills, Tiffany Carroll 23 assists and Ashleigh Cunningham nine points.

Huntington 15-15, Ripley 1-4
Jenkins had nine kills, Grubb five kills and Shiloh Bethel eight points.

Adena inches closer to title 
09/25/03

Adena inched another win closer to a 14th straight Scioto Valley Conference volleyball championship with a 15-7, 15-1 win over Paint Valley Thursday evening.

Coach Laura Smith's Lady Warriors lead second place Unioto by two games with four games remaining.

Unioto kept pace with the league leaders with a 15-5, 15-2 win over Zane Trace. Huntington swept Piketon 15-9, 15-5 and Westfall defeated Southeastern 15-1, 15-4.

Adena 15-15, Paint Valley 7-1
Summer Rinehart and Haley Halcomb combined for 16-for-17 serve receiving as Adena stretched its homecourt winning streak to 65 dating back to 1995. The Lady Warriors have won 33 straight SVC matches. 

Halcomb -- a freshman -- was 10-for-10 serving receiving to grade out a perfect 3.0. Rinehart was 6-for-7 for a 2.7 grade

Adena (15-0, 10-0) was 71-for-75 hitting with 30 kills.

Ashley Sowers led the Lady Warriors with 11 kills, two blocks and four digs. Rinehart had five points and three digs, Halcomb four assists, Amanda Kinnamon and Amanda Atchison five kills each, Sarah Smith two kills and seven points, including three aces, Katie Roush three kills, seven points, including two aces, and eight digs and Erica Zurmehly two kills, 24 assists and seven points.

Maggie Cooper had four points, including two aces, 14 digs and two kills for Paint Valley (7-7, 4-6). Tiffany Dailey had 21 assists, one kills and six digs and Chelsea Eblin 10 kills, two blocks and six digs.

Adena won the reserve match 15-7, 15-8 as Liza Hirsch had 35 sets, 16 assists and four points, Tara Knauff 14 hits, nine kills and eight points, including five aces, Leah Hirsch 12 hits and six kills, Samantha Shaffer eight kills on eight hits and Jennifer Fout 10 points, including three aces.

Adena is at Grove City for a quad Saturday that also includes Westland and Bishop Ready. Paint Valley is at Westfall Tuesday.

Unioto 15-15, Zane Trace 5-2
Dennale Speakman served out the final six points of game one after Zane Trace had drawn within 9-5 of Unioto and Jamie White served up a 7-0 lead for the Lady Shermans to start game two.

Speakman and White combined for 16 of Unioto's 30 points with Katie Frey leading in kills with 10. White also had 11 assists and Speakman four kills on 5-for-6 hitting.

Frey was 12-for-13 hitting and Jessica Lewis 9-for-1 with six kills. Chastity Neff had eight assists for the Lady Shermans (10-4, 8-2).

Paige Halley, Lynli Zilli, Justine Zilli and Anna Gray all had three digs apiece for Zane Trace (2-14, 1-9). Justine Zilli also had five serving points, Gray three kills and one solo block and Kendra Lallier 23 sets and five assists.

Unioto won the reserve match 15-4, 15-5.

Unioto is host Saturday to Washington CH in a non-conference match and Zane Trace is at Southeastern in an SVC match Tuesday.

Westfall 15-15, Southeastern 1-4
Sisters Kari and Randi Rodgers were 22-for-22 serving for 20 Westfall points.

Kari was 10-for-10 serving for eight points, including three aces, all in game one while Randi was 12-for-12 in game two for 12 points, including two aces.

Kelsey Sewards had five points and six kills for the Lady Mustangs (12-3, 7-3) and Cheslea Popowski four kills.

Huntington 15-15, Piketon 9-5
Lindsey Grubb and Courtney Jenkins had seven kills apiece as Huntington (10-4, 7-3) remained tied with Westfall three games back of Adena and one behind Unioto.

Grubb also had six digs and Ashleigh Cunningham 12 points, including three aces, and four digs.

Huntington will be at North Adams Saturday evening for a tri-match that also includes Ripley. Southeastern (0-10, 4-11) hosts Zane Trace in an SVC match Tuesday.

Southeastern wins two 
09/24/03

Southeastern defeated Jackson 9-15, 15-9, 15-3 and Leesburg Fairfield 15-3, 15-7 in a pair of non-conference volleyball matches Wednesday evening.

Megan Patterson served 13 points with five aces against Jackson and Holly Smith had 10 assists, Alissa Moats eight kills and Terra Kinzer eight digs. Patterson also had eight digs for the Lady Panthers (4-10).

Laura Patterson served 12 points against Leesburg and Jessica Dixon had eight digs and Moats five kills.

Southeastern took a reserve match from Leesburg 15-5, 15-10 behind Emily Gray's nine serving points. 

Southeastern hosts Westfall Thursday.

Adena frustrates Huntington 
09/23/03

Adena frustrated another challenger to its Scioto Valley Conference volleyball supremacy Tuesday evening with a 15-5, 15-1 win over Huntington.

Huntington, which lost to the Lady Warriors 15-1, 16-14 at Adena in their first meeting, could have moved within a game of the SVC leaders. Instead, the Lady Huntsmen fall three games off the pace with the homecourt loss.

Unioto stands alone in second place now after coming from behind in both games to defeat Piketon 15-13, 15-12.

Elsewhere, Westfall tripped Zane Trace 15-3, 15-3 and Paint Valley defeated Southeastern 15-3, 15-3.

In the second weekly poll of the season by the Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association, Adena continues to be ranked No. 4 in Division IV behind St. Henry, Minster and Centerburg.

Westfall -- No. 20 in the first poll -- has moved up five notches to 15th in Division III after knocking off Marion Elgin, ranked fifth in Division III. The Lady Mustangs also bumped off Benjamin Logan ranked in the top 10 in Division II.

Adena 15-15, Huntington 5-1
Adena was 45-for-50 hitting as a team for 25 kills and missed only two serves -- a lethal combination for the Lady Huntsmen.

Katie Roush was the Lady Warriors' serving leader with 14 points -- including 10 in the first game. She also had four kills.

Ashley Sowers was 14-for-16 hitting for 12 kills and had two assists, two digs and three solo blocks, Amanda Kinnamon had two kills and four points, Erica Zurmehly four kills and 11 assists, Haley Halcomb one kill and 10 assists and Summer Rinehart seven points, including an ace.

Huntington's Lindsey Grubb had six kills and eight digs, but Adena limited sophomore Courtney Jenkins to just three kills.

Ashleigh Cunningham chipped in with six digs and Emily Long five digs and two serving aces for Huntington (9-4, 6-3).

Adena won the reserve match 15-8, 15-6 as Huntington lost for the first time in league play. The two teams are tied for first place at 8-1 with Unioto one game back at 7-2.

Adena's leaders were Liza Hirsch with 43 sets and 13 assists, Catherine Glandon 28 sets, six assists and eight points, Samantha Shaffer 17 hits and six kills, Leah Hirsch 12 hits and five kills, Tara Knauff 11 hits and six kills, Evyn Gray 14 digs, Lisa Martin nine serving aces in nine serves and Jennifer Fout six points and two aces.

Huntington won a freshman game 15-5, 15-9 -- the third straight win for the Lady Huntsmen.

Huntington is at Piketon and Adena (14-0, 9-0) is host to Paint Valley Thursday.

Unioto 15-15, Piketon 13-12
The Lady Shermans trailed 13-10 before running off the final five points of game one and were down 12-8 in game two before scoring seven straight points to end the match.

Unioto coach Pam Doughty praised the play of a pair of unsung heroes -- Katy Hinty and Katie Tuttle -- for coming off the bench to rally their teammates. Hinty had six digs

"I was so proud of the girls coming off the bench," Doughty said.

Jamie White had 12 points and was 33-for-34 setting with 11 assists for Unioto (9-4, 7-2). Dennale Speakman was 19-for-23 hitting with 11 kills and nine digs, Katie Frey was 15-for-17 hitting with seven kills and 10 digs, Jessica Lewis 11-for-14 hitting with six kills and Chastity Neff 32-for-33 setting with 12 assists.

Piketon (5-9, 3-6) got five kills from Sheena Spurgeon, 13 digs from Ashley Short and 12 assists from Erin Johnson.

Unioto won the reserve match 15-2, 13-15, 15-10 as Ashley Easterday served all 15 points in the first game.

Piketon hosts Huntington and Unioto is home to Zane Trace Thursday.

Westfall 15-15, Zane Trace 3-3
Randi Rodgers provided the spark for the Lady Mustangs (11-3, 6-3) with 14 serving points, 12 assists and 16-for-16 serving with four aces.

Kelsey Sewards had 10 kills on 15-for-17 hitting with eight digs, Maleah Thornton had three points, Kari Rodgers five points and four kills, Beth Reed six points and Nikki Ward 10 digs.

Zane Trace (2-13, 1-8) was led by freshman Kendra Lallier with 38 sets and four assists, Allison Cox with eight digs and Paige Halley and Anna Gray with two kills each. Gray also had one solo block.

Zane Trace won its first reserve match of the season 15-12, 16-14.

Westfall is at Southeastern and Zane Trace at Unioto Thursday.

Paint Valley 15-15, Southeastern 3-3
The Lady Bearcats reeled off their third win in two nights as Chassidy Birchfield ended the match with one of her team-high seven kills for the night.

Birchfield also had two serving aces, three digs and one block, Tiffany Dailey 11 points, 23 assists and five digs, Emmalee McKell four kills and five digs, Chelsea Eblin nine points, five kills, three digs and one block, Maggie Cooper five kills, 10 digs and one block, Tabitha Hatfield seven points with two aces and Megan Ward six kills.

Alissa Moats had four kills for the Lady Panthers (2-10, 0-9).

Southeastern won the reserve match 3-15, 15-11, 16-14.

Paint Valley (7-6, 4-5) is at Adena and Southeastern hosts Westfall Thursday.

Paint Valley sweeps tri-match 
09/22/03

Paint Valley swept a tri-match at Whiteoak Monday evening with a 15-10, 15-10 win over Beaver Eastern and a 15-10, 15-5 decision over Whiteoak.

Tiffany Dailey served 22 points, including four aces, in the two matches that ended with Kelsey Lloyd coming off the bench to end the Whiteoak match with a kill for the Lady Bearcats (6-6).

Dailey also had 25 assists in the Eastern match, Chelsea Eblin 13 kills and three points, Maggie Cooper five points, eight digs and three kills, Emmalee McKell four points, four kills and seven digs, Tabitha Hatfield five points and four digs, Chassidy Birchfield three points, four kills and two solo blocks, Megan Ward four kills and Mary Depugh two blocks.

Against Whiteoak, Dailey recorded 11 assists and three kills, Eblin four kills and one block, Cooper five points, including two aces, and four digs, McKell eight points and five digs, Birchfield two kills and one block, Ashley McClaskey four digs, Ward four kills and Depugh two points.

Paint Valley hosts Southeastern in a Scioto Valley Conference match Tuesday.

Westfall, Adena carry SVC banner  
09/20/03

How good is Scioto Valley Conference volleyball?

Westfall goes to Elgin Saturday and knocks off two unbeaten, ranked teams in winning the Elgin Classic. Coach Lori Merriman's Lady Mustangs are fourth behind Adena, Huntington and Unioto in the SVC.

Adena -- now unbeaten in 13 matches this season -- goes to Logan and sweeps Division I (Logan) and Division II (Teays Valley) teams in a tri-match.

Westfall opened its championship run at Elgin with a first round 15-4, 15-0 win over Fredericktown, whipped up on host Elgin 15-6, 15-0 in a semifinal and wins the Classic with a 16-14, 15-13 win over Division II Benjamin Logan, featuring one of the state's top players in rangy Nicole Fawcett, who played on a U.S. national Junior Olympic team in Poland last summer.

Both Elgin and Benjamin Logan came into the Classic 10-0 -- Elgin ranked No. 4 in Division III and Benjamin Logan No. 5 in Division II.

Adena's day went 15-7, 15-4 over Teays Valley and 15-3, 15-2 over Logan.

Westfall wins Classic
Against Fredericktown, junior Maleah Thornton was 20-for-20 serving, including points three through 15 in game two.

In game two of the semifinal with Elgin, Nikki Ward served points three through 14, including four aces.

For the Classic, Thornton was 37-for-38 serving with five aces and 26 points. That's in addition to 12 kills and 18 digs. Ward was 31-for-32 serving with six aces and 24 points to go with 18 kills and 22 digs.

Four Lady Mustangs had 12 or more kills in the three matches with Kelsey Sewards hammering 27 kills and Chelsea Popowski 15. Sewards also had 31 assists on 60-for-61 setting.

Randi Rodgers was 64-for-66 setting with 33 assists and Kari Rodgers led the team with 28 digs.

Adena sweeps tri-match
Amanda Kinnamon led her teammates against Teays Valley with four kills, two solo blocks and 11 points, including five aces.

Amanda Atchison had seven kills, Ashley Sowers six kills and two solo blocks, Katie Roush three kills, five points and 10 digs, Erica Zurmehly three kills, 16 assists, five points and five digs, Haley Halcomb four assists and five digs and Summer Rinehart five digs and three points.

Sowers had eight kills, two solo blocks and five points, including two aces, against Logan.

Roush added five kills, eight points and six digs, Kinnamon four kills, eight points, one solo block and nine digs, Zurmehly five kills, 16 assists, five points and four digs, Halcomb eight digs, Atchison three kills and Schae Reed one kill and two digs.

Adena extends homecourt streak 
09/18/03 

Adena extended its string of homecourt victories to 64 with a pulsating 15-5, 10-15, 15-12 over Westfall in Scioto Valley Conference volleyball Thursday evening.  

The Lady Warriors -- who have not lost a home match since midway through the 1995 season -- were forced to a third and deciding game for the first time this season. Adena won the first meeting between the two teams 15-7, 15-11 at Pherson.

Westfall slips three games back of unbeaten Adena in the SVC race while the Lady Warriors stay two games ahead of Huntington and Unioto. 

For the second time this season, Huntington needed three games to survive Paint Valley 10-15, 15-12, 16-14 and Unioto defeated Southeastern 15-8, 15-5. Piketon won its second straight league match 15-6, 6-15, 15-9 at Zane Trace.

Adena 15-10-15, Westfall 6-15-12
"The first time we played them we had three or four girls who were getting their first varsity experience," Westfall coach Lori Merriman said of her team's improvement from the first meeting to Thursday night.

"It just took a period of adjustment for them to get used to each other," she added.

Kelsey Sewards -- the reigning SVC player of the year -- recorded a career-high 19 kills to lead the Lady Mustangs (7-3, 5-3). She also had 10 assists, 14 digs and five points.

Randi Rodgers had 12 points and 15 assists, Nikki Ward seven kills and 17 digs, Maleah Thornton and Kari Rodgers five points each, Beth Reed four points and Chelsea Popowski eight kills. Kari Rodgers also had 17 digs.

Adena missed three chances at match point before closing out the win on a long hit by the Lady Mustangs.

"Defensively, they did a great job," Adena coach Laura Smith said.

That prompted a pivotal move by Adena (11-0, 8-0) in game three -- moving senior Ashley Sowers to the middle to take advantage of her defense and hitting. She led Adena with 14 kills and had 15 digs.

Katie Roush had 11 kills, 12 points, including three aces, and 12 digs, Haley Halcomb 13 assists and 17 digs, Amanda Kinnamon four kills and nine digs, Sarah Smith eight points, Erica Zurmehly seven kills, 21 assistes, eight points and two blocks, Summer Rinehart nine points and eight digs, Amanda Atchison five kills and three blocks and Kortney Ward two kills -- both in the crucial game three.

Adena won the reserve match 15-2, 15-4 as Liza Hirsch had 21 sets and seven assists, Catherine Glandon seven sets and four assists, Samantha Shaffer seven hits and five kills, Leah Hirsch four hits and three kills, Tara Knauff seven points, Lisa Martin 10 points, including three aces, Evyn Gray six points and Jennifer Fout four points.

Huntington 10-15-16, Paint Valley 15-12-14
"They don't let anything hit the floor," Huntington coach Lynnette Flack said of Paint Valley's resurgence this season under first-year head coach Lori Anderson.

"They defended our hits unbelievably," Flack said. "They must have had an unbelievable number of digs."

The Lady Bearcats (4-6, 3-5) had five players with seven or more digs led by sophomore Tiffany Dailey's 18. Chassidy Birchfield added 12, Maggie Cooper and Emmalee McKell 11 each and Chelsea Eblin seven.

"This is the best game we've played all year," Anderson said. "The first game was the second best we've played this year."

Dailey also had 15 points, including five aces, 21 assists and three kills, Eblin 12 kills and five blocks, Cooper 12 points, including five aces, Emmalee McKell six points and two kills, Birchfield five points, seven kills and five blocks and Megan Ward six kills.

Sophomore Courtney Jenkins was one of three Huntington players with three blocks each and also had 16 kills, 10 points and 10 digs. Julie Hammond and Nikkita Carroll also had three blocks each.

Lindsey Grubb added nine kills and 16 digs for Huntington (9-3, 6-2) and Shiloh Bethel 10 serving points.

Huntington's junior varsity remained unbeaten in the SVC with a tough 7-15, 15-7, 15-12 win.

Unioto 15-15, Southeastern 8-5.
Katie Frey's nine kills on 14-for-16 hitting led Unioto (8-4, 6-2) while Jessica Lewis, Dennale Speakman and Annie Matson all had three or more kills apiece.

Lewis had five kills on 8-for-9 hitting and four digs, Speakman five kills on 8-for-11 hitting along with five points and Matson three kills on 5-for-6 hitting with five digs. Jamie White served seven points and was 23-for-24 setting with nine assists and Chastity Neff added five points and was 13-for-14 setting with five assists.

Unioto won the reserve match 15-4, 15-0.

Piketon 15-6-15, Zane Trace 6-15-9
Sheena Spurgeon had 10 kills, Erin Johnson 19 assists and Ashley Short nine kills and 10 digs to lead Piketon (5-8, 3-5).

Paige Halley's 14 kills, three solo blocks and 13 digs sparked Zane Trace (2-12, 1-7). Allison Cox had 13 points and Kendra Lallier 15 assists on 34-for-37 setting.

Piketon won the reserve match 15-9, 15-4.

Westfall stuns Huntington
09/16/03

Westfall created a logjam for second place behind Adena's unbeaten Scioto Valley Conference volleyball leaders with a stunning 15-4, 15-2 win at Huntington Tuesday evening.

The loss drops Huntington into a three-way tie with Westfall and Unioto, a 15-7, 15-8 winner at Paint Valley.

Adena's 15-6, 15-2 win over Zane Trace opens a two-game lead for the Lady Warriors to start the second round of league play when Westfall visits Frankfort Thursday. Piketon defeated Southeastern 17-15, 15-3.

Westfall 15-15, Huntington 4-2
"Awesome," Westfall coach Lori Merriman said of her team's win.

"We really concentrated on Lindsey (Grubb) and I think we did a good job of holding her down," Merriman added. "I told the kids to just go out and have fun.

"I'm pleased. I thought we were real balanced."

That balance was reflected in four players with at least six kills led by Kelsey Sewards with 11. Sewards -- the 2002 SVC player of the year -- was 17-for-19 hitting to go with nine digs, eight assists and six points.

Nikki Ward was 12-for-14 hitting with six kills and nine digs and Maleah Thornton 6-for-8 hitting with six kills and 10 digs. Thornton was 12-for-12 serving for eight points, including four aces.

Chelsea Popowski was 7-for-7 hitting with six kills, Randi Rodgers had 17 assists and Beth Reed and Kari Rodgers seven and six points, respectively.

"We just couldn't do anything," Huntington coach Lynnette Flack said of the Lady Huntsmen as Grubb had six kills and 10 digs and Courtney Jenkins five kills and six digs.

Huntington's reserves remained unbeaten in the SVC with a 15-10, 15-3 win.

Huntington is at Paint Valley and Westfall at Adena Thursday.

Adena 15-15, Zane Trace 6-2
Ashley Sowers and Amanda Kinnamon were a combined 29-for-29 hitting with nine kills each. Sowers -- who was 17-for-17 hitting -- also served six points.

Erica Zurmehly had 13 assists and 12 points, including a pair of aces, and Katie Roush had six points and nine digs.

Kendra Lallier recorded 40 sets with seven assists, seven digs and three points to lead Zane Trace. Allison added seven digs and two kills and Paige Halley and Justine Zilli three kills each.

Adena won the reserve match 15-6, 15-6 as Liza Hirsch had 12 sets, five assists and seven points, Leah Hirsch four hits and four kills, Tara Knauff four hits and one kill, Samantha Shaffer five hits and one kill, Jennifer Fout 11 points, including three aces, and Evyn Gray three points.

Zane Trace hosts Piketon and Adena hosts Westfall Thursday.

Unioto 15-15, Paint Valley 7-8
Jamie White and Chastity Neff were 56-for-57 for seven and eight assists, respectively. White was 38-for-39 setting and also served six points for Unioto.

Katie Frey served seven points to go with six kills on 17-for-18 hitting, Dennale Speakman had seven kills on 24-for-26 hitting, Annie Matson five digs and two kills on 9-for-10 hitting and Jessica Lewis six digs and three kills on 8-for-8 hitting.

Chelsea Eblin led the Paint Valley spikers with seven kills, three digs and five blocks while Emmalee McKell added six points, including a pair of aces, and 10 digs.

Tiffany Dailey had two points, eight assists, one kill and eight digs, Chassidy Birchfield four points, including three aces, one kill, one block and seven digs and Megan Ward two kills.

Unioto won the reserve match.

Unioto is at Southeastern and Paint Valley hosts Huntington Thursday.

Piketon 17-15, Southeastern 15-3
Piketon gets its second SVC victory while handing Southeastern its seventh straight league loss.

Southeastern won the reserve match 15-0, 7-15, 15-4.

Piketon is at Zane Trace and Unioto is at Southeastern Thursday.

Adena ranked fourth in coaches poll
09/16/03

Adena's unbeaten Scioto Valley Conference volleyball leaders are ranked fourth in Division IV in the first poll of the season by the Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association.

Coach Laura Smith's Lady Warriors (9-0) trail only St. Henry (10-1), Minster (9-0) and Centerburg (7-0).

Beaver Eastern (7-0) is 12th.

In Division III, Westfall (6-2) is 20th on the eve of a crucial SVC showdown Tuesday evening at Huntington (8-2). The unranked Lady Huntsmen hold down second place in the SVC race -- one game back of Adena and a game ahead of Westfall.

Complete poll information is available at www.ohsvca.org.

Saturday, Sept. 13
South Webster 15-15, Zane Trace 9-9
Portsmouth Clay 14-15-15, Zane Trace 16-6-12
Huntington 15-15, Portsmouth 1-1
Huntington 15-15, Minford 4-4
Wheelersburg 8-15-15, Unioto 15-11-13

Huntington sweeps tri-match
09/13/03

Huntington swept a tri-match with Portsmouth and Minford Saturday, defeating Portsmouth 15-1, 15-1 and Minford 15-4, 15-4.

Wheelersburg defeated Unioto 8-15, 15-11, 15-13 in a tightly contested match and Zane Trace lost to South Webster and Portsmouth Clay. South Webster downed the Lady Pioneers 15-9, 15-9 and Clay was a 14-16, 15-6, 15-12 winner.

Huntington 15-15, Portsmouth 1-1
Shiloh Bethel and Courtney Jenkins combined for 21 points that includes nine aces in the Lady Huntsmen's rout of Portsmouth.

Bethel served 12 points with four aces and Jenkins nine points with five aces.

Julie Hammond pitched in with six kills and Lindsey Grubb five kills.

Huntington 15-15, Minford 4-4
Hammond was credited with 13 blocks and Grubb had eight kills and Jenkins six as Huntington dominated the net.

Bethel served 10 points and Ashleigh Cunningham seven and Emily Long had six digs.

Huntington (8-2) hosts Westfall in a key Scioto Valley Conference match Tuesday.

Portsmouth Clay 14-15-15, Zane Trace 16-6-12
Freshman Kendra Lallier recorded a career-high 19 assists on 99-for-103 setting.

Paige Halley had 14 kills, nine digs and nine points with three aces, Lynli Zilli 11 points and Anna Gray five kills and two solo blocks.

South Webster 15-15, Zane Trace 9-9
Lallier had eight assists on 24-for-29 setting, nine digs, five points, including two aces, Halley five solo blocks and Justine Zilli five kills and six digs.

Zane Trace is at Adena Tuesday and home Thursday to Piketon in a pair of Scioto Valley Conference matches.

Wheelersburg 8-15-15, Unioto 15-11-13
Jamie White and Chastity Neff combined for 89-for-89 setting with 21 assists and Dennale Speakman and Katie Frey had 17 points and 19 kills collectively for the Lady Shermans (6-4).

White went 47-for-47 setting with 10 assists and Neff was 42-for-42 with 11 assists.

Speakman was 17-for-28 hitting with 12 kills, eight digs and nine points, Frey 15-for-22 hitting with seven kills and eight points and Jessica Lewis 17-for-20 hitting with eight kills.

Unioto is at Paint Valley Tuesday and at Southeastern Thursday in Scioto Valley Conference matches.

Adena handles Unioto's challenge
09/11/03

Thursday, Sept. 11
Adena 15-15, Unioto 10-10
Adena 18-15, Unioto 16-2 (reserves)
Paint Valley 15-15, Zane Trace 6-6
Paint Valley 15-15, Zane Trace 0-9 (reserves)
Huntington 15-15, Southeastern 1-1
Huntington 15-15, Southeastern 5-12 (reserves)
Westfall 15-15, Piketon 8-0
Westfall 15-15, Piketon 4-7 (reserves)

Adena took a huge step toward a successful defense of its Scioto Valley Conference volleyball title with a 15-10, 15-10 at Unioto Thursday evening.

The Lady Warriors ( 9-0, 6-0) have defeated two of their nearest pursuers -- Westfall and Unioto -- on their home courts as the league race nears the halfway point.

In other matches Thursday evening, Paint Valley posted its third SVC win on the road 15-6, 15-6 at Zane Trace, Huntington breezed past Southeastern 15-1, 15-1 and Westfall defeated Piketon 15-8, 15-0.

Adena 15-15, Unioto 10-10
Adena took control of the match late in both games -- scoring the final four points of game one and the last seven points of game two to overcome a 10-8 deficit.

Back-to-back kills by Dennale Speakman and Katie Frey sparked Unioto (6-3, 4-2) to an early 5-3 lead in game two and the Lady Shermans still led 10-8 when Adena's Katie Roush triggered a 7-0 run with a kill.

Another Roush kill and a block by sophomore Amanda Atchison finished out the string and the match.

Roush was 25-for-26 hitting for Adena with nine kills and nine digs and Amanda Kinnamon had six points, five kills, 11 digs and two blocks.

Ashley Sowers had 12 digs and seven kills, Erica Zurmehly 11 assists, six points and two kills, Amanda Atchison one kills and five blocks, Summer Rinehart five points and six digs, Sara Smith five assists and seven points and Haley Halcomb five assists and three digs.

Speakman led Unioto with seven points that included four aces, 10 kills on 18-for-23 hitting and six digs. Frey was 14-for-16 hitting with five kills and had five digs and Annie Matson was 14-for-15 hitting with three kills.

Jessica Lewis served six points and had nine assists and Chastity Neff nine assists.

Adena won the reserve match 18-16, 15-2 as Leah Hirsch had 12 hits and six kills and Samantha Shaffer 10 hits and eight kills, Catherine Glandon 27 sets and nine assists and Liza Hirsch 18 sets and four assists. Evyn Gray had 12 digs and eight points, including four aces, Lisa Martin nine points and Tara Knauff five.

Adena hosts Zane Trace Tuesday and Unioto hosts Wheelersburg Saturday beginning at 1 p.m.

Huntington 15-15, Southeastern 1-1 
Shiloh Bethel served 11 points in a dominating performance by the Lady Huntsmen to remain one game back of Adena and all alone in second place.

Huntington (6-2, 5-1) is the lone team among the contenders, who will have Adena at home when the second round of league play begins next week.

Lindsey Grubb added six points to go with five kills and sophomore Courtney Jenkins hammered four kills.

Huntington won the reserve match 15-5, 15-12.

Huntington hosts Minford and Portsmouth in a tri-match Saturday beginning at 11 a.m.

Westfall 15-15, Piketon 8-0
Maleah Thornton had a team-high 11 digs to go with 11-for-11 serving for 10 points, including three aces for the Lady Mustangs (6-2, 4-2).

Kelsey Sewards turned in seven assists and 11 kills on 19-for-21 hitting. Kari Rodgers added 10 digs and Chelsey Popowski was 12-for-13 hitting with six kills.

Julie Brown served nine points as the Westfall reserves won 15-4, 15-7. 

Westfall is at Huntington in a key SVC matchup Tuesday to close out the first round of league play.

Paint Valley 15-15, Zane Trace 6-6
Chassidy Birchfield and Chelsey Eblin combined for 17 points and had three aces apiece. Birchfield served 10 points and Eblin seven along with five kills and two blocks for Paint Valley (4-4, 3-3).

Tiffany Dailey chipped in with 11 assists and Megan Ward three kills.

Freshman Kendra Lallier had four points, seven digs and seven assists on 25-for-30 setting for Zane Trace (2-8, 1-5) and Paige Halley five kills, one ace and a solo block.

Paint Valley won the reserve match 15-0, 15-9.

Zane Trace joins South Webster in a tri-match Saturday at Portsmouth Clay while Paint Valley hosts Unioto Tuesday. Paint Valley's match Saturday with Greenfield McClain and Lynchburg Clay has been canceled and will be rescheduled later.

Unioto wins at Westfall; Adena next
09/09/03

Unioto bounced back from its first Scioto Valley Conference volleyball loss of the season at the hands of Huntington last week to knock Westfall out of a share of second place Tuesday evening.

Unioto pulled off a 15-12, 15-8 win at Westfall to stay within one game of league-leading Adena, a 15-4, 15-1 winner over Southeastern.

Unbeaten Adena plays at Unioto Thursday.

Huntington also remained a game back of Adena with a 15-10, 15-8 win at Zane Trace and Paint Valley won 15-4, 15-6 at Piketon.

Unioto 15-15, Westfall 12-8
"They played an outstanding game," Westfall's Lori Merriman said of Unioto's successful invasion of Pherson.

Leading Unioto was junior Dennale Speakman with a season-high 14 kills on 23-for-24 hitting and Jessica Lewis with nine points, five digs, three blocks and one kill on 8-for-9 hitting.

Katie Frey had five kills on 10-for-13 hitting, five digs and two blocks, Jamie White eight points and nine assists on 26-for-26 hitting, Chastity Neff seven points and 10 assists and Annie Matson six digs and two kills on 9-for-11 hitting.

Westfall got four points, including three aces, six kills and nine assists from Kelsey Sewards.

Randi Rodgers had four points and 10 assists and Chelsea Popowski nine kills on 21-for-23 hitting for the Lady Mustangs.

Unioto hosts Adena and Westfall entertains Piketon in league games Thursday.

Adena 15-15, Southeastern 4-1
The Lady Warriors reeled off their eighth straight win as Ashley Sowers had six kills and seven points, Amanda Kinnamon four kills and six points, Katie Roush four kills, Erica Zurmehly three kills, 12 assists and four points, including a pair of aces, Summer Rinehart six points and Schae Reed four points and one kill.

Laura Patterson served four of Southeastern's five points while Alissa Moats had 10 hits and Holly Smith seven assists.

Adena won the reserve match 15-9, 15-6 as Liza Hirsch and Catherine Glandon recorded 19 sets apiece. Hirsch had eight assists and Glandon five. Leah Hirsch had 10 hits and six kills, Samantha Shaffer 11 hits and four kills, Jennifer Fout 11 points, including seven aces, and Lisa Martin nine points and one ace.

Adena is at Unioto and Southeastern hosts Huntington in league matches Thursday.

Huntington 15-15, Zane Trace 10-8
"That's the best we've looked all year," Zane Trace coach Jim Hutton said of his team's effort against one of the best hitting teams in the SVC.

Lindsey Grubb continued her strong play for the Lady Huntsmen with 15 kills, 14 digs and 10 serving points while sophomore Courtney Jenkins had 18 digs, 11 kills and five blocks. Shiloh Bethel served eight points.

Paige Halley had 21 attacks, five kills and eight digs for the Ladyk Pioneers, Justine Zilli nine digs, Anna Gray three kills and two solo blocks and Kendra Lallier five assists on 45-for-50 hitting.

Lynli Zilli "did a really great job tonight," Hutton said of his freshman middle hitter.

Huntington won the reserve match 15-6, 15-8.

Huntington is at Southeastern and Paint Valley at Zane Trace in SVC matches Thursday.

Paint Valley 15-15, Piketon 4-6
Paint Valley won its second road match in league play despite five kills by the Redstreaks' Whittney Smith and Melissa Short's six digs.

The Lady Bearcats were led by Tiffany Dailey's 11 assists and 12 points that included three aces. Emmalee McKell added seven points, Chelsey Eblin five points, four kills and three blocks and Maggie Cooper three points, two aces and three kills.

Paint Valley is at Zane Trace and Piketon at Westfall Thursday.

CHS enters OCC play with 6-1 record
09/08/03

Chillicothe defeated Eastmoor 15-3, 15-6 in non-conference volleyball Monday evening.

The victory boosts the Lady Cavalier record to 6-1 entering the team's Ohio Capital Conference Cardinal Division opener Tuesday against Olentangy at Hatton Memorial Gymnasium.

The reserve game is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. start.

The CHS reserves defeated Eastmoor 15-2, 15-5.

Adena wins invitational, CHS wins three
09/06/03

Adena continued its domination of the Athens Invitational by successfully defending its championship with a 15-3, 15-2 rout of Nelsonville York in Saturday's final.

The unbeaten Lady Warriors (7-0) defeated Federal Hocking 15-6, 15-6 and Athens 15-13, 15-5 en route to the final.

Adena senior Ashley Sowers was named the tournament's most valuable player and was joined on the all-tournament team by junior teammate Katie Roush.

In the Logan Elm Invitational, Chillicothe (5-1) racked up three wins, including one over Unioto, which won its other two matches. CHS downed Unioto 15-11, 15-13, Philo 13-15, 15-0, 15-9 and Logan Elm 15-10, 4-15, 15-11.

Unioto (5-2) bounced back to hammer Crooksville 15-1, 15-1 and defeated Philo 15-4, 15-8. Zane Trace defeated Crooksville 15-5, 15-3 for its second win after losing to Logan Elm 1-15, 7-15 and Philo 5-15, 11-15.

Elsewhere, Westfall (6-2) was a 15-13, 15-10 winner over Jonathan Alder and Piketon split a pair with a 15-2, 15-7 win over North Adams before falling to Wheelersburg 14-16, 15-11, 7-15. 

Southeastern defeated Jackson 16-14, 15-4 and lost to Miami Trace 2-15, 17-15, 7-15 and Waverly downed Paint Valley 15-0, 15-4.

Adena 15-15, Federal Hocking 6-6 (quarterfinal)
Sowers had eight kills and eight digs, Roush five kills and five points and Amanda Kinnamon six kills.

Freshman Haley Halcomb record six assists and served nine points, including four aces, and Erica Zurmehly had two kills, 13 assists and eight points with two aces.

Adena 15-15, Athens 13-5 (semifinal)
Zurmehly (12) and Halcomb (8) combined for 20 assists and Roush recorded 10 kills on 14-for-14 hitting.

Sowers had six kills and served nine point, including four aces, and Kinnamon added three kills and two solo blocks and served 10 points, including a pair of aces.

Adena 15-15, Nelsonville York 3-2 (final)
Sowers was 18-for-18 hitting with 11 kills and Kinnamon 9-for-9 with five kills as the Lady Warriors dominated the net.

Roush recorded six kills and seven digs and served 10 points, including three aces. Zurmehly had 18 assists and five points, Halcomb six assists and five points, Summer Rinehart six points, including two aces, and Amanda Atchison three kills on 3-for-3 hitting.

Adena is host to Southeastern in a Scioto Valley Conference match Tuesday.

Chillicothe 15-15, Unioto 11-13
Chillicothe 13-15-15, Philo 15-0-9
Chillicothe 15-4-15, Logan Elm 10-15-11
Alicia Brokaw -- a 6-0 senior middle hitter -- had 50 kills, including 24 against Logan Elm, and 11 blocks in the three matches while Marissa Tackett added 32 kills and eight blocks and Ashley Vollmar 33 kills, four blocks and nine digs.

Kate Fyffe had six blocks, Sara Horning 60 assists and Leslie Burdett 43 assists and Katie Hurff 10 digs.

The Lady Cavaliers are at Eastmoor Academy Monday for a non-conference match before hosting Olentangy in an Ohio Capital Conference Cardinal Division opener Tuesday.

Unioto 15-15, Crooksville 1-1
Katie Frey and Jessica Lewis had five kills apiece and Lewis was 11-for-11 hitting and Frey 7-or-7.

Chastity Neff and Dennale Speakman served seven points each and Neff was 19-for-19 setting with six assists. Jamie White was 14-for-14 setting with seven assists.

Unioto 15-15, Philo 4-8
Frey was 13-15 hitting with eight kills and had eight digs and five blocks while Lewis served 14 points.

Speakman was 16-for-18 hitting with nine kills and six digs, White 32-for-32 setting with 13 assists and Neff 14-for-14 setting with eight assists.

Unioto is at Westfall Tuesday.

Westfall 15-15, Jonathan Alder 13-10
The Lady Mustangs handed Alder its second loss in eight decisions in a match delayed approximately 45 minutes when an official walked out between games.

A substitute official was summoned to replace the departed official, who had been a replacement for an official who did not show up for the match.

"I'd never seen anything like it," said Westfall coach Lori Merriman.

Kelsey Sewards led Westfall with six points, including two aces, 14 kills on 18-for-19 hitting, 11 assists and nine digs.

Nikki Ward added seven points and eight kills on 16-for-18 hitting and had nine digs. Beth Reed served seven points, Kari Rodgers three points and 17 digs, Randi Rodgers seven points and 11 assists and Jessica Rodgers three solo blocks.

Westfall is host to Unioto Tuesday.

Piketon 15-15, North Adams 2-7
Sheena Spurgeon had six kills, Torre Slone six digs and Melissa Short five digs.

Wheelersburg 16-11-15, Piketon 14-15-7
Spurgeon added seven more kills and eight digs while Ashley Short added five kills and nine digs, Whittney Smith five kills and Erin Johnson 17 assists.

Piketon hosts Paint Valley Tuesday.

Logan Elm 15-15, Zane Trace 1-7
Paige Halley, Katie Bost and Lynli Zilli had five digs apiece and Kendra Lallier served three points and was 40-for-43 setting with six assists.

Halley also had three kills, two solo blocks and two serving aces.

Philo 15-15, Zane Trace 5-11
Halley had 11 more kills, Zilli nine serving points, Ashli Bower seven points and Lallier 11 assists on 65-for-69 setting.

Zane Trace 15-15, Crooksville 5-3
Lallier completed a busy day with 16 assists on 30-of-31 setting and Halley added 11 kills, eight digs and three solo blocks.

Justine Zilli had seven serving points, six kills and seven digs.

Zane Trace hosts Huntington Tuesday.

Southeastern 16-15, Jackson 14-4
Southeastern had 10 serving aces in the match with Laura Patterson and Alissa Moats serving eight points apiece.

Miami Trace 15-15-15, Southeastern 2-17-7
Terra Kinzer recorded 10 digs and her sister, Hannah, had nine kills.

Southeastern's match Monday with Leesburg was canceled. The Lady Panthers are at Adena Tuesday.