photo by: Kim North

Union Local’s Olivia Wortman (15) prepares for a kill as Barnesville’s Chaela Smolira (21) and Aiva Leasure (5) defend Monday night inside ‘The Hangar’ at Union Local High School. The Jets earned a sweep over the Shamrocks.

MORRISTOWN – With five seniors who gained valuable experience at the state tournament as freshman and a very talented junior class, Union Local is once again looking for big things on the volleyball court this fall.

The Jets (2-0) were flying high Monday night in their home opener inside ‘The Hangar’ against western Belmont County rival Barnesville, treating the large crowd to a 3-game sweep by scores of 25-9, 25-20 and 25-20.

Veteran head coach Kaye Sechrest always preaches teamwork and she received a total team effort as half-a-dozen players recorded double-digits in a statistical category.

Junior Myah Martin led the way with 21 digs, while classmate Delaney Butler and senior Alayna Logan each charted 15 assists. Junior Brooklyn Burley added 13 digs; senior Olivia Wortman 11 kills and classmate Emma yager 10 digs. Butler also chipped in nine digs, as junior Laken Vinskovich checked in with nine kills. Sophomore Ameera Saunders added seven kills and six digs.

“We have some nice depth this year,” Sechrest said. “Everyone got to play and everyone played well. There are some things we need to work on, but it is still early.”

Leading 11-7 in the first set, the Jets went on an 11-0 run as the margin soared to 22-7 with Ella Pietranton at the service line.

Union Local led 5-4 early in the second set before going on an 8-0 spurt that bumped the count to 13-4. However, the Shamrocks (1-1) didn’t roll over and cut the deficit to one at 17-16 on back-to-back bad hits by the hosts. That would be as close as they would get as the Jets closed the set on a 9-4 run.

“I’m proud of the way we fought back after losing 25-9 in the first set,” Barnesville head coach Kimberly Jarrett said. “We didn’t quit. I’m excited with what I saw in the last two sets.

“This is a tough place to play and they come at you hard, especially with this being their home opener. We battled back multiple times.”

Barnesville held its lone lead of the night at 1-0 to start the third set only to watch Union Local rattled off the next five, but the Shamrocks hung close until the Jets took a 21-14 lead. The teams basically traded points down the stretch.

“We have some girls that can pick it up when they have to,” Sechrest added. “They work hard and they seem to feed off each other.”

Barnesville was paced by senior Payton Dudzik with six kills and three points. Junior Aubrey Johnson recorded two dozen digs, while freshman Avery Bliss charted half-a-dozen kills. Senior Lexi Grear added five points and two aces.

Barnesville hosts Shadyside today while Union Local welcomes Beaver Local on Thursday.