BRIDGEPORT — It may have taken Beallsville a little while to get going Wednesday night, but once the Blue Devils did there was no stopping them.

It took the visitors 33 minutes to capture a 27-25 first-set marathon over homestanding Bridgeport that propelled them to their second prep volleyball win in a row. They followed with 25-11 and 25-14 victories for the sweep inside the John J. Havlicek Gymnasium.

“We got off to a slow start but we picked it up and did what we had to do,” veteran Beallsville head coach Jeff Fluharty said. “This is just a step along the way. We’ve got a lot of returning girls and we just want to keep improving as the season moves along. Hopefully by the time the OVAC and sectional tournaments roll around we’re playing at our best.”

The first set was deadlocked 13 times as the teams traded point for point. Bridgeport owned the largest margin at 16-12, but Beallsville’s high-flying sophomore Kaylee Hagan ended it with one of her 11 kills. She also added a trio of assists.

“Kaylee is a solid player for us,” Fluharty noted.

The Blue Devils (2-1) jumped out to early leads in the next two sets and slowly, but methodically, pulled away from the error-prone Bulldogs (0-2). They led 12-9 in the middle set before reeling off 13 of the final 15 points, and a 17-14 advantage in the third set quickly went to 25-14 as the visitors ran off the final eight points.

“Honestly, we beat ourselves again. We beat ourselves Monday (in a loss at Martins Ferry),” Bridgeport head coach Tara Carpenter said. “Miscommunication and not getting our serves in. That’s what it takes to win games. You’ve got to get your serves in.”

Despite the second straight loss, Carpenter is encouraged about the progress.

“We are moving forward better than we have in the past. I can’t fault them for their effort.”

In addition to Hagan, other Blue Devil standouts included juniors Kinley Hughes with 11 assists, five kills and a pair of assists and Chloe McCulley with 11 helpers and three aces. Sophomore Breelyn Hudson charted five aces.

Also playing well were juniors Leah Trigg and Grace Perkins.

Sophomore Josalyn Canter paced the Bulldogs with seven digs, three points, a pair of aces and two blocks. Junior Markiee McCormick added 14 assists and a trio of points, while sophomore Vanessa Mullen charted 22 digs and junior Kaylee Bain 15. Junior Erica Marling added four digs, two points and a pair of kills.

Beallsville travels to Barnesville on Monday, while Bridgeport treks to Monroe Central on Tuesday.

Barnesville def. Shadyside

SHADYSIDE — Barnesville bounced back from being swept Tuesday night at Union Local with a narrow sweep of Shadyside on Wednesday in prep volleyball action.

The Shamrocks (2-1) posted nail-biting victories of 25-23, 26-24 and 26-24 over the host Tigers (0-2) inside the Tigers Den.

The Shamrocks were led by Ava McFarland’s 13 points, 27 assists and seven digs. Halle Markovich had four blocks, 11 kills and three aces. Ellie Thompson added 12 kills, three blocks, five points and an ace.

Kynlie Cline posted 21 digs, four points and two kills. Jalyn Skinner recorded nine points and 12 digs and Payton Dudzik posted five kills.

In the loss, senior Gentry Brown charted 14 kills, seven digs and a trio of blocks, while junior Macy Hendershot added half-a-dozen kills, four aces and a block. Freshman Aubrey Nippert recorded 15 assists and classmate Ali Weatherson had eight helpers. Junior Janelle Greenwood added seven digs.

The Shamrocks continue their early season road trip tonight with a journey to Connorville where Buckeye Local awaits. The Tigers host River on Saturday at 10 a.m. in their next action.

St. Clairsville falls at Beaver Local

ROGERS — St. Clairsville dropped a four-set match Wednesday evening to Beaver Local by scores of 25-22, 25-22, 24-26 and 25-21.

The Red Devils were led by Brooke Biancarelli’s nine kills and 13 digs. Rachel Finnical added 25 assists, a kills, five digs and six aces. Katlyn Gray had eight kills, six digs and six blocks. Abby Salisbury posted 25 digs, two aces, two kills and two assists.

GOLF

Buckeye Local tops East Liverpool

RAYLAND — Buckeye Local picked up its 11th win in as many outings Wednesday by defeating East Liverpool at BecWood.

The Panthers fired a round of 172, which was 24 shots better than the Potters.

Kamden Kinyo shot 39 to lead the Panthers, but he was four shots behind East Liverpool’s Nate Kelley, who was the medalist.