Martins Ferry Spikes Barnesville, Advances To D-V District Finals

MARTINS FERRY - Martins Ferry took a step into unchartered waters Tuesday night with its clean, but hard-earned, 3-0 sweep of visiting Barnesville in an Ohio Division V, East 2 District volleyball tournament semifinal inside Tolbert Gymnasium.

With their 25-9, 26-24 and 25-15 victory over the sixth-seeded Shamrocks (11-13), the No. 2 Purple Riders (23-1) advanced to the district championship match for the first time in program history. They will meet third-seeded Navarre Fairless (23-1) on Thursday at Harrison Central High School in Cadiz at 6 p.m.

Martins Ferry finished the regular season fourth in the Division V state coaches poll, while Navarre Fairless was 10th. The Purple Riders received three first-place votes.

"It feels great," Martins Ferry head coach Jaela Koller said of advancing one step further than last season when they fell in the district semis to Tuscarawas Valley in four sets.

The Purple Riders came out focused, using some chunk points to pull away from the Shamrocks. Leading 18-8, Martins Ferry ran off eight of the final nine points.

The second set was a totally different story, however. Barnesville snapped a 4-all stalemate with nine of the next 11 points to build a 13-6 advantage. After Martins Ferry cut the deficit to 13-11, the visitors reeled off eight of the next 11 markers for a 21-14 lead.

A kill by Caydence Stephens made it 22-14 and when Makenna Marley's serve hit the net before trickling over for an ace upped the count to 23-14 it seemed the Shamrocks were about to pull even.

As former ESPN college football analyst Lee Corso used to say, 'not so fast!'

Back-to-back kills by Martins Ferry's Maddie Lucas jump-started a set-ending 11-1 run to cap a miraculous comeback, 26-24. A left-handed touch by Giana Chirpas drew the Purple Riders even at 24 and her ensuing kill set up match-point. SJ Koller's serve was unreturnable for an ace and the win.

"We've been working in each practice to never stop ... to keep on going," Coach Koller said. "You have to earn every point. God love them. They did just that. They got down on themselves but then built themselves right back up.

"It was great to see what you've worked so hard on come to fruition."

Barnesville head coach Kimberly Jarrett was extremely proud of the effort her girls put forth.

"We preach that we want to be first to 5 points, 10 points, 15 points, 20 points and 25 points. We achieved the first four, but we just couldn't get past 24," she said. "Unfortunately, we just couldn't finish there. Martins Ferry did a variety of things at the end that kept us from getting that 25th point."

Martins Ferry, which has now won three straight matches after losing to St. Clairsville in the OVAC Class 4A finals, has strung together sweeps in nine of the last 10 outings.

Chirpas led Martins Ferry with 20 kills and a trio of blocks. Nicole Hammerquist added nine kills and three blocks, while Maddie Lucas had eight kills and half-a-dozen digs. Koller chipped in 21 digs and three service aces. Olivia Harkness charted 33 assists and two aces.

Coach Koller said she has watched some film on Navarre Fairless, but isn't ready to release any secrets she has found out.

Thursday's winner moves on to regional tournament action at Cambridge High School on Nov. 5 against the East 1 victor - No. 1 Meadowbrook-No. 4 Tuscarawas Valley - at 8 p.m. The Colts and Trojans play on Thursday, as well.