×
X logo

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox.

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)

You may opt-out anytime by clicking "unsubscribe" from the newsletter or from your account.

Paden City Roars By Rival Blue Devils

Photo by Cody Tomer Paden City’s Hope Weber, center, makes a play on the ball, while teammates Abbe Stackpole, left, and Mallory Yeater, right, look on during Wednesday’s home match with Beallsville.

PADEN CITY — Paden City grabbed the reigns early and never looked back during Wednesday’s volleyball match.

The Wildcats tallied the first 11 points of the opening set and cruised to a convincing 25-10, 25-17 and 25-16 straight-set victory over visiting Beallsville.

Cora Anderson garnered 10 of those points from behind the service line to help the Wildcats gather the early advantage.

“That strong start was very important for us,” Paden City coach Jennifer Yeater said. “That helped to set the tone and the mood for the evening.

“We just focused on keeping our serves in and our hits down. Those strong serves got us off to a good start.”

Yeater’s squad has only dropped three sets all season and lost its first match Tuesday, which seemed to motivate a hungry group of Wildcats (4-1).

“We were on the road (Tuesday) night,” Yeater said. “We beat Cameron but lost to Trinity. We struggled a bit in that match but coming off of that loss kind of helped us to fuel the fire. It helped us to come out and get back on the path that we need to be on.”

Following the quick 11-0 start for Paden City, the Blue Devils cut the score to 13-6 but that was as close as they got in the first set.

“We’ve started slow all season,” Beallsville coach Jeff Fluharty said. “It’s killed us every game.

“Paden City moved really well on the floor and when something bad happened, they rallied around each other and our team didn’t.”

Beallsville’s only lead came early in the second set as it grabbed a 1-0 edge, but Paden City responded with the next point.

In a 6-6 deadlock, the Wildcats took the next point to secure a 7-6 lead and Maggi Still kept it that way by reeling off four consecutive points to give her teammates an 11-6 cushion.

Beallsville looked much stronger in the final two sets as Olivia Muncy kept her team’s hopes alive with a pair of aces that cut the deficit to 13-12.

“Our hitting was a little better in the last two sets,” Fluharty said. “We were a little more aggressive and in this sport, that’s what you have to be.”

Despite the push toward the lead, Paden City kept control of the match and the lead. Eventually, Hope Weber generated the final five points of the set to put the Wildcats up 2-0, heading into the third.

Paden City set the tone once again by jumping out to a 7-2 command and the Blue Devils never got within four points as the hosts finished as strong as they started.

The Blue Devils were led by Ashlie Louden’s six kills and four assists, while Muncy turned in six assists.

Still led Paden City with 11 points, nine assists, seven kills and six aces, while Weber supplied 11 digs, seven kills and six points and Anderson charted 12 points, seven aces and five digs.

Mallory Yeater dished out 18 assists and seven points, Abbe Stackpole collected 11 digs and Madi Kline added five kills in the victory.

“I think our effort and enthusiasm, along with our camaraderie of working together as a team are the strengths of our team,” Yeater said. “The girls also have a positive energy that they generate from each other.”

River d. Union Local

21-25, 14-25, 25-21, 26-24, 15-10

BELMONT — Lauren Flannery had 25 points, 23 digs, six kills and five aces as River came back from two sets down to defeat Union Local. Allison Bennett had 30 assists, 17 digs and 3 kills for the Pilots while Cortny Sapp compiled 16 digs, seven points and three aces.

Steubenville Catholic

d. Weir 25-9, 25-20, 25-19

STEUBENVILLE — Karmen DiBiase had 20 assists, 14 digs and seven kills as Steubenville Catholic swept Weir. Emma Borden tallied 16 assists and three kills for the Crusaders while Theresa Bahen had nine digs, eight kills and three assists.

Sophia Mikula had three kills for the Red Riders while Kiara Magnone and Kaleigh Cowden had three digs

SOCCER

Girls

Weir 7, Steubenville Catholic 0

STEUBENVILLE — Julia Gianni netted two goals and dished out two assists as Weir shut out Steubenville Catholic. Nina Grassini scored a goal and dished out two assists for the Red Riders while Bella Aperfine finished with two goals. Megan Cramer and Mackenzie Hollaway each collected one goal.

Bri DeChristopher made 13 saves in goal for the Crusaders.

St. Clairsville 8, Edison 1

ST. CLAIRSVILLE–Alyssa Otto notched five goals and two more assists to lead St. Clairsville to a convincing win over visiting Edison.

Otto’s strong night gives her 125 goals in her career for the Red Devils(5-2), while teammate Macy Malin chipped in with two goals and a pair of assists.

Lauren Ferralli netted the lone goal for the Wildcats (2-7).

GOLF

Linsly 165, John Marshall 169

River 224

WHEELING — Ryan Dembiczak earned medalist as he turned in a 39 to help lead Linsly to a victory in a tri-match against John Marshall and River. Dillion Dunlevy was also solid for the Cadets with a 40 while A.J. Nairn had a 41. Aiden Gruber rounded out the scoring for with a 45.

Cody Sprowls had a team-low 40 for John Marshall while Logan Alleman and Ridge Thompson secured a 45 for River.

John Glenn ‘B’ 178, Cambridge 180, Meadowbrook 188, Fort Frye 212

CAMBRIDGE — Cambridge’s Ian Smith shot a 40 good enough medalist as the Bobcats came in second in a quad-match. John Glenn won the event. Meadowbrook’s Tucker Rogers had a 43 to lead the way for his team while Fort Frye’s Devin Layton had a 43.

COLLEGE

Men

Historic Win for West Liberty Soccer

WEST LIBERTY — The West Liberty University men’s soccer team notched its first NCAA Division II victory Wednesday night and did so in impressive fashion with a 4-0 shutout of Shepherd at the West Liberty Soccer Complex.

Obviously operating on the principle that the best defense is a good offense, coach Thomas Olivier’s Hilltoppers (1-3-0, 1-2-0) dominated the run of play throughout.

West Liberty outshot the Rams (0-5-0, 0-2-0) by a whopping 37-5 margin with 18 of those scoring attempts being on frame. Only a stellar 14-save effort by besieged Shepherd netminder Jose Machado Orellana kept the match from getting completely out of hand.

“We established the rhythm we wanted to establish, controlled possession of the ball and played the way we wanted to from the beginning,” Olivier said. “I haven’t seen the stats but possession of the ball by percentages had to be at least two-thirds to one-third at least in our favor which is what we wanted to do.”

It didn’t take long for the Hilltoppers’ constant offensive pressure to impact the scoreboard.

Gerardo Sarmiento sent a corner kick into the box that found the foot of Jack Osborne. Osborne’s shot was blocked by a Shepherd defender but Waleed Cherif collected the rebound inside the six and drove it home for a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute.

Cherif scored again barely two minutes later when he ran down an excellent long ball from Alan Fischman and ripped it past Orellano to make it 2-0 West Liberty.

The hosts took a 3-0 lead into the break when Kaleb Crede converted from point-blank range less than 60 seconds before the halftime horn.

The barrage continued throughout the second half but Orellano was able to keep a clean sheet until the 90th minute when Owen Rozanc — who serves double duty as the placekicker on the WLU football team — hammered one home to complete the scoring.

Florian Dupuis picked up the win in net for the hosts, stopping the only two shots Shepherd put on frame. Stephen Schlegel relieved Dupuis in the 80th minute but didn’t face a shot the rest of the way.

West Liberty hits the road on Sunday with a trip to Buckhannon, W.Va. for a 7 p.m. match against West Virginia Wesleyan.

Women

WLU Women Upended in Extra Time

CLARKSBURG — Fortune frowned on the West Liberty University women’s soccer team once again Wednesday night as a fluke goal in overtime lifted Salem to a 3-2 win in non-conference action at Robert C. Byrd High School.

It was the third overtime loss of the season for coach Barry Christmas’ hard-luck Lady Hilltoppers (0-4-1) and the fourth time in five outings that a West Liberty match has stretched past regulation.

Tamara Queiroz was in the right place at the right time to score the golden goal for the host Tigers (2-1-0) in the 94th minute.

Seconds after the WLU women had forced a corner kick that they were unable to convert, Salem’s counter-attack appeared to have been blunted when a West Liberty defender took possession and tried to clear through heavy traffic.

Unfortunately for the Hilltoppers, the clearing attempt struck another defender and deflected over the heads of the WLU back line where Queiroz alertly volleyed it just over the head of Hilltopper keeper Olivia Montgomery for the game-winner.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.73/week.

Subscribe Today