Photo by Kim North Union Local’s Laken Vinskovich (22) spikes the ball Monday night against the Barnesville duo of Lily Welch (22) and Payton Dudzik (7) during their match inside ‘The Greenhouse’ at Barnesville High School. Union Local won in four sets, 25-19, 25-18, 19-25, 25-21.

BARNESVILLE — Union Local isn’t used to losing regular-season volleyball matches. So, after a setback to Shenandoah on Saturday, the Jets were looking to draw even Monday night when they made the short flight to western Belmont County rival Barnesville.

Before a vocal packed crowd inside ‘The Greenhouse,’ Union Local got off to a quick start and took the first two sets by scores of 25-19 and 25-18. The Shamrocks (1-1) won the third set 25-19 and led 21-15 in the fourth as a fifth seed loomed.

However, Union Local had other ideas. It reeled off the final 10 points to stun Barnesville, 25-21, and gain the win in four sets.

“These girls don’t quit. They never say die,” Union Local head coach Kaye Sechrest said. “They’ll work until they drop.”

When Union Local’s Ella Pietranton stepped to the service line with her team on the short end of a 21-15 count, nine consecutive points later – including a trio of aces – had the Jets on the verge of capping a remarkable comeback. Sophomore Laken Vinskovich put things to an end with the last of her 14 kills.

“You might have different players, but they all have a role to play,” she noted of key graduation losses off the Division II state Final Four squad. “As long as they understand that, we’ll be okay.”

Sechrest said the rally in a hostile environment was huge for her squad.

“We are really, really young,” she stressed. “Our setter has never played varsity. I have a foreign exchange student. I’ve got a sophomore starting in the back row and I have a sophomore and a freshman on the front row.

“They are all still learning. We just need to keep gelling and I think we are doing that.”

Union Local broke a 1-all deadlock in the first set with five straight points and never trailed en route to a 25-19 triumph. The second set was nearly identical as the Jets snapped a 1-all stalemate and slowly, but surely, pulled away for a 25-18 nod.

The third set saw the rivals tied six times, the last at 10-all. However, the Shamrocks reeled off eight consecutive points for an 18-10 margin they would never surrender. The Jets closed to within 22-19 but Barnesville scored the final three points, including a kill by Ellie Thompson to finish off the win, 25-19.

The teams were knotted at one, two, four, five, six, eight and nine in the early portion of the fourth set, but the Shamrocks six of the next seven tallies for a 16-11 advantage. They built the margin to six at 21-15, but the bottom fell out and the Jets soared to a 25-21 victory.

“We knew Union Local was going to be hungry for a win. They didn’t get one in their opener, so we knew we had to be ready, but I think we had a little bit of frustration early on and it took us a while to get in sync,” Barnesville head coach Kimberly Jarrett said. “I truly believe in this team and the third set is how we are able of playing. I think we will be able to learn from this and keep moving forward.”

In addition to her 14 kills, Vinskovich added nine digs and a pair of blocks. Freshman Ameera Saunders tied Vinskovich with 14 kills of her own, while Pietranton charted 10 kills, eight digs, four aces and three blocks. Alayna Logan finished with 17 assists, eight digs and a trio of aces, while Delaney Butler compiled 30 assists and a dozen digs. Yager added 17 digs and three aces. Julie Broussard had 26 digs and Olivia Wortman nine kills.

Thompson had 14 kills, five points and a like number of digs. Ava McFarland had 29 assists to bring her close to 2,000 for her career. She also charted 18 digs and scored 11 points. Jayln Skinner finished with 13 digs and eight points. Aubrey Johnson had 33 digs.