Lady Tigers sweep Blanchester in 3 sets

GREENFIELD — The McClain varsity volleyball team defeated Blanchester Monday night with a straight set victory by scores of 28-26, 25-23, and 25-12.

It comes on the heels of a big win at Paint Valley on Saturday, giving the Lady Tigers a two-game winning streak heading into the stretch run of the season.

“This was a nice win for us and it comes right after we defeated Paint Valley on Saturday, so recently it seems like our team has really started clicking together,” McClain head coach Cierra Bolender said.

The first game of the match was a closely played battle by both squads before McClain prevailed by the slimmest of margins 28-26.

In game two the Lady Tigers led from start to finish with just four lead changes despite it being another nip and tuck tight finish.

Junior Brooklyn Bolender was the serving star in the set by winning 10 straight points which gave McClain a seemingly comfortable 15-6 advantage at that point in the game.  

However, the Blanchester girls fought back and made things interesting, tying the game at 23-23 before Bolender served out the final two points and sophomore Brynlee Karnes had a big kill at the net to finish the game.

“We’ve been serving a lot more aggressively in these last two matches that we’ve won and I think we’ve had over eight aces during that stretch,” Bolender said. “I’m really happy with our improvement with that and we’ve also been minimizing the errors on our side.”

McClain led from start to finish in game three and won surprising easy 23-12 after the first two closely played sets.

Junior Alaya Jackson along with Karnes and sophomore Allie Havens were the serving leaders in the third set, and they also played well at the net registering several big kills for the match.

“I thought Brooklyn (Bolender), Brynlee (Karnes), and Alaya (Jackson) all served really well tonight, and then Molly McCune served us out there at the end,” Bolender said. “Alaya has been working really hard getting on top of the ball at the net by getting the ball down opposed to swinging it flat and Brynlee is also swinging very well up front, along with Allie and Brooklyn on the outside.

“So, I’m pretty proud of their overall aggression from attacking points wherever we can get them.”

McClain will entertain FAC foe Jackson on Tuesday, Oct. 6 with senior night festivities starting at 6 p.m. From there, the Lady Tigers will host Hillsboro on Thursday, Oct. 8th. 

Stat leaders for McClain:  Kills — Karnes 12, Jackson 12. Digs — Karnes 9, Havens 7. Serving Points — Havens 14, Bolender 13, Jackson 12, and Karnes 10. Aces — Jackson 5, Bolender 3.