Shadyside’s Gentry Brown, left, goes up to block a shot by Monroe Central’s Kynzi Bishop during Tuesday night’s match inside the Tigers’ Den in Shadyside. The Tigers prevailed in straight sets, 25-20, 25-19 and 25-18.

SHADYSIDE — Many times in athletics it’s not how you start, but how you finish.

Such was the case Tuesday night inside the Tigers’ Den as Shadyside (9-0) overcame an 8-2 deficit in the first set to sweep visiting Monroe Central by scores of 25-20, 25-19 and 25-18. It was the second time the Orange has swept the Seminoles in less than two weeks.

The Seminoles (7-2) grabbed the early lead but couldn’t overcome mistakes and a solid Shadyside squad.

With senior Baylee Wach at the service line in the opening set, the hosts reeled off five points to draw even at 8. After an exchange of points, Shadyside scored seven of the next eight points to take a 16-10 advantage it would never relinquish.

Monroe Central closed the gap to 21-17 but couldn’t get a serve over the net late as the Tigers prevailed.

“I don’t like the slow start, but we came back and tied it up and kept the momentum through that set and the rest of the way through,” Shadyside head coach Eric Mercer said.

“The girls responded really well. Monroe Central is always a good team. They never give up and will push you until the end,” Mercer added. “I’m pleased with how my team hung in there.”

The two teams were knotted at 3 early in the second set. However, the Tigers ran off 10 of the next 11 points to take control.

Strong play at the net by Gentry Brown, Tory Hendershot, Kylie Jo Baker and Paige Gorby paced Shadyside.

Shadyside led wire-to-wire in the third set.

“We’ve just got to work harder as a unit and show more fight,” Monroe Central head coach troy baker said. “Shadyside is a great team probably one of the better in the Ohio Valley, but we’ve got to get better as individuals, better as a team and better as a coach.”

Despite a few new faces, Mercer isn’t surprised of his team’s start.

“We graduated quite a few seniors from last season, including four starters but we had some good strength coming off the bench,” Mercer said of the Tigers fast start to the season. “The girls just know where each other is going to be. The chemistry is good and it’s really all about the pass,” Mercer added. “I’ve told them all year if we can pass, we’ll be fine.You could see that tonight. When we struggled the passing was off a little bit.”

Brown led the Tigers with 14 kills, eight digs and five blocks while Gorby recorded nine kills, eight digs and a trio of blocks. Hendershot charted seven kills, five digs and two aces. Caroline Mercer totaled 33 assists and four digs while baker had six kills and two digs. Baylee Wach contributed four servie aces, three kills and a like number of digs. Kamdyn Elerich finished with half-a-dozen digs.

Kalista Friday paced the Seminoles with 18 digs and four kills. Kynzi Bishop added seven kills, six points (3 aces) and five assists while Trista Morris contributed four kills, 12 digs and five assists. Alexa Marley charted eight points and seven assists. Regan Hamilton had nine digs and six points (2 aces).