St. Clairsville Earns Spot In 4A Volleyball Finals With Sweep Of Golden Bears
Photo by Nick Henthorn St. Clairsville's Savannah Cisar attempts a kill Tuesday during the Red Devils' OVAC 4A semifinal game at home agains the Oak Glen Golden Bears.
Photo by Nick Henthorn St. Clairsville's Savannah Cisar attempts a kill Tuesday during the Red Devils' OVAC 4A semifinal game at home agains the Oak Glen Golden Bears.
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ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- Last year, Steve Harris' Red Devils volleyball team fell in the OVAC semifinals to the Union Local Jets, denying St. Clairsville a shot at the conference 4A title.
That, Harris said, was something that stayed on his team's minds this season. After a 3-0 victory over No. 3 Oak Glen on Tuesday, the second-seeded Red Devils have reached their goal, advancing past the Golden Bears to Saturday's OVAC title game.
"This was one of our goals all season," Harris said after his team's sweep. "We lost this game last year. It was a goal to get back to it, prove ourselves, and go play at the ECO [Center] on Saturday. This is a big step for us, and we’re putting it together. We’re finally playing with some confidence, and it’s been rewarding for all the work they put in."
The win came on St. Clairsville's home court, and despite the 3-0 outcome on-paper, the semifinal victory was anything but easy.
In the first two sets, St. C. and Oak Glen went point-for-point at the start, going to a 9-9 tie in the first set and a 15-15 tie in the second. At the latter stages of either, though, the Red Devils managed to pull away. St. Clairsville won the first set 25-17, and a kill by Corrin Pritts gave the Red Devils the second set 25-20.
The Golden Bears looked energized at the onset of the third set, locking down on defense and building an 8-3 lead which prompted a St. Clairsville timeout. Oak Glen's advantage stayed around five points-- the Golden Bears led 12-7, then 17-12-- and grew to as much as seven with a 20-13 advantage, but St. Clairsville rallied.
Aided by some untimely misplays, and big plays of their own-- such as an impactful block at the net by Maddison Wehr and Savannah Cisar that tied the game at 23-23-- the Red Devils battled back to win the set and the match with a 25-23 posting. The set ended on a misplay on a St. C. serve.
"We got leads in the first two and finished," Harris said of his team's performance. "That was a big emphasis for us this year, maybe in the last month, is finishing. That was a big win to come back and make big plays in big moments."
Oak Glen's Keira Vick led her team in digs with 17, while Zoey Caughey led the way with nine kills, followed by Laikynn Eckleberry with seven. Bryson Adams and Mikalyn Balch split setting duties with 17 and 15 assists, respectively.
"Hats off to St. Clairsville," Oak Glen head coach Morgan Saddler said. "They’re a fantastic team. Good luck to them in the championship. But, our team, I felt we showed up with a little bit more grit than we did the first time we saw them this season, but we made too many errors in crucial moments and it cost us the match."
Oak Glen (21-10) had lost to St. Clairsville 3-0 back on Sept. 23.
With the semifinal victory, St. C. (17-3) now will face Martins Ferry on Saturday for the 4A championship. It will be the third meeting this season between the two teams, with the Purple Riders posting 3-1 and 3-0 victories the last two times.
"We lost to them twice this year in the regular season," Harris said. "We battled, we didn’t play quite good enough. They’re a fantastic team, they’ve gotten so much better, and it’s been our goal to get back and play them on Saturday. That’s been in our minds, and I know they know it, and we know it. I just expect a great game, and I’m looking forward to just going and playing hard. I think it’s going to be a big crowd and a big game."