Martins Ferry Finishes Regular-Season Sweep Of St. C., Is Still Perfect At 10-0
Trending
ST. CLAIRSVILLE - In an atmosphere more suited for basketball, Martins Ferry completed its regular-season sweep of St. Clairsville in high school volleyball action.
The Purple Riders won for the 10th consecutive match - in as many outings - with a 25-23, 26-24, 25-16 marathon over the host Red Devils before at steamy John Jenkins Court that included the Sweet Harmony Singers and the St. Clairsville Pep Band.
In remaining perfect, Martins Ferry continued to receive outstanding play from numerous players as has been the case all season, but London Hodor stood above the rest.
"London Hodor played an excellent, excellent game tonight," Martins Ferry head coach Jaela Koller said of her 5-11 sophomore. "Honestly, yesterday (Wednesday) at practice she and I worked hard. We kind of knew they would try and come after London, so we really worked hard. It paid off."
Hodor recorded eight kills during the 70-minute match.
The sweep by the Purple Riders was their seventh of the season. They've won the other three matches 3-1, including a bout with the Red Devils back on August 24 inside Tolbert Gymnasium. St. Clairsville (8-2) had won six consecutive matches by sweeps since that setback.
Leading 16-13 in the first set, the Purple Riders ran off four straight points with Gracie Lucas at the service line for a 20-13 lead. However, the Red Devils would eventually make it 21-20, but would get no closer as a block by Hodor and a one-handed tip by Nicole Hammerquist bumped the count to 23-20. After a bad hit by St. Clairsville made it 24-21, they scored twice before Martins Ferry prevailed.
St. Clairsville bolted to leads of 3-0 4-1 before the second set was knotted nine times before a kill by Madison Wehr gave the hosts a 20-19 advantage. Three consecutive points made it 23-19 and the Red Devils held a 24-21 advantage before Martins Ferry stormed back.
With Olivia Harkness at the service line, the junior delivered an ace to jump start a 5-0 run and capped the surge with back-to-back aces. In between, Hodor had a nifty flick with her right hand for a point and Addie Simpson scored another point.
"It's all about confidence," Koller said of Harkness. "She loves a challenge. She loves to play volleyball."
Harkness finished with 40 assists, nine digs and half-a-dozen aces.
"Those first two sets were long and intense for volleyball. They were good matches," St. Clairsville head coach Steve Harris said. "We played until the end and I'm proud of them for that. We've just got to find a way to clean it up a little more."
Martins Ferry built a 23-13 lead in the third set before St. Clairsville battled back towards the end.
"None of these games against St. Clairsville is never going to be easy," Koller admitted. "They fight their tails off until the end. Coach Harris does an excellent job with the girls."
Giana Chirpas continued her fine play with 15 kills, three blocks, a trio of digs and two aces, while Maddie Lucas recorded 18 digs and seven kills. SJ Koller added 29 digs - some acrobatic - and Hammerquist logged 11 kills.
Both head coaches were appreciative of the crowd.
"That intensity. That loudness and environment is what the sport of volleyball has been missing," Harris said. "That's good stuff."
Coach Koller agreed.
"I loved this environment. I wish all sports had these types of crowds for all of their games," she said. "A lot of these kids work very hard at practice and some play two or three sports at the same time. In addition to volleyball, I've got girls that are cheerleaders and play golf.
"I loved everything about tonight except how hot it is in here," she added. "We were up by 10 (points) and this is where I told you St. Clairsville would fight until the end. They got four points on us when all we needed was one."
There are some losses that a team can learn from and Harris is hoping that is the case for his squad.
"Martins Ferry is a really good team. They swing hard and get their money's worth," Harris said. "We've lost to them twice. They've got our number, but we just need to keep getting better. We have some positives we can take away from tonight."
St. Clairsville received solid efforts from Abigail McCulley, Ava Saunders, Corrin Pritts, Madison Wehr and Vivian Harris.