Buccaneers nab second straight win

0

XENIA — The Xenia High School varsity girls volleyball team has gone into battle against two evenly matched opponents on successive nights, and they’ve come out on top in both contests.

On Thursday night in Xenia’s Blue Pit gymnasium, the Buccaneers battled to a 25-21, 23-25, 25-23, 25-17 win over West Carrollton to record their first Greater Western Ohio Conference, South Division win of the season. Twenty four hours earlier, Xenia rallied from a 1-7 score in the deciding fifth set to upend Greeneview on the Rams’ home floor.

“It was a rough five against Greeneview, but we came out on top. And then tonight, we played pretty evenly with West Carrollton — the set we lost was because of a couple crucial errors — but we took control in that fourth game and finished strong,” said Xenia coach Jessica Threats.

Playing without their kills leader, Hannah Propes, who was out due to a school-related commitment, hitters Deborah Michalski, Megan Cain and Charlene Stone did a nice job in her place. Propes had rung up 25 kills in the thriller over Greeneview.

Michalski had 17 kills in the Greeneview game, then responded with 18 kills against West Carrollton. Cain moved from middle hitter to the outside hitter position and bashed a dozen kills past the Pirates. Unofficially, Stone had six kills and a service ace in Wednesday’s win.

Xenia is now 4-7 overall and 1-1 in the GWOC South. For the Bucs’ next game, they’ll host South division foe Springboro for a 7 p.m. Tuesday battle next week.

“Charlie Stone came up big for us and did a nice job of being active at the net against West Carrollton’s heavy hitters. And then usually Megan is a middle hitter, but she went outside tonight and did a pretty good job, too. We needed that tonight,” Threats said.

West Carrollton’s Haley Nixon is one of the top hitters in the entire GWOC. She came into the match with 117 kills so far this season. She crushed a dozen more kills and served up a couple booming ace serves to lead the Pirates, now 7-7, 0-2 GWOC South.

The Pirates will host Fairborn in a GWOC South battle of their own at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

“We made a lot of unforced errors that cost us tonight,” West Carrollton coach Genevieve Woodward said. “Without that, we should’ve gone five games and it would’ve been an awesome battle. Jessica has been doing an amazing job with her program, and I’m bringing my kids along too. Every year, we’re both better, so all the other teams need to watch out!”

The Xenia junior varsity didn’t have to work quite as long as their varsity counterparts. The Bucs JV earned a 25-22, 25-14 straight-set win Thursday over West Carrollton’s junior varsity squad.

Xenia’s Sarah Michalski (4) bashes a shot past a West Carrollton defender, during Thursday night’s Greater Western Ohio Conference, South Division battle at Xenia High School. The host Buccaneers won the match in four games.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2015/09/web1_DSC_0015.jpgXenia’s Sarah Michalski (4) bashes a shot past a West Carrollton defender, during Thursday night’s Greater Western Ohio Conference, South Division battle at Xenia High School. The host Buccaneers won the match in four games.

Charlene Stone (6) goes up to attempt to block a hard hit from West Carrollton’s kills leader Haley Nixon (10), while Xenia’s Megan Cain (5) backs up the play. Stone and Cain were instrumental in aiding the Buccaneers’ front line attack in Thursday night’s four-game win.
http://aimmedianetwork.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2015/09/web1_DSC_0019.jpgCharlene Stone (6) goes up to attempt to block a hard hit from West Carrollton’s kills leader Haley Nixon (10), while Xenia’s Megan Cain (5) backs up the play. Stone and Cain were instrumental in aiding the Buccaneers’ front line attack in Thursday night’s four-game win.

By John Bombatch

[email protected]

John Bombatch can be reached at (937) 372-4444, Ext. 2123.

No posts to display