Hillsboro advances in tournament; defeats McClain in 4 sets

Dominating the first two sets, then fending off a rally by No. 10 McClain in the final two sets, the No. 7 Hillsboro Lady Indians defeated their rival in four sets in the Division IV District First Round match Monday at Hillsboro High School. 

HHS won set one by a score of 25-10, followed by another 25-10 score in set two. McClain rallied to keep the match going with a set-three win at 25-16, but the Lady Indians won the fourth and final set at 26-24. 

“They're a very strong team,” Hillsboro head coach Heather Jones said of MHS. “The first two sets, the girls were very excited and very hyped, so they played really good together, and they played strong. The third set, McClain had changed up their lineup a little bit, so they put, I think, better blockers in with our better hitters, and were able to block our good hitters a little bit more. But overall, the girls do well coming back as a team and playing strong and finishing strong.”

Set one saw Hillsboro jump out to a 10-0 lead with serves from Tylee Davis, including an ace for a 7-0 lead. McClain called a timeout when the score jumped to 8-0, and eventually the score went to 10 points because HHS hit their own side of the net for McClain’s first point of the set. 

HHS built a 13-3 lead when Samantha Tipton scored a point on a kill, and later the lead went to 19-5 in favor of the Lady Indians. The set continued with HHS having the momentum with the set ending off a hit by Ryan Wagoner and an ace from Davis for the 25-10 win. 

It was more of the same in set two with Hillsboro starting out with 12 consecutive points with serves by Davis, and McClain calling a timeout with HHS leading 9-0. The score went to 11-0 when Tipton scored a point with a kill. 

HHS added to their lead with a 12-0 lead, and things continued to go their way by building a 15-1 advantage. The Lady Indians then held a lead of 16-2, and after an out-of-play hit, Hillsboro had an 18-3 advantage. 

Hillsboro’s lead later went to 20-5 with a hit from Camryn Spruell, but MHS had points from Brenna Wright, Madalyn Griffin and Kylea Toney for a 22-10 score. Hillsboro scored the final three points by Davis and Wagoner, as Davis scored the final point off a serve for a second win by a 25-10 score. 

It looked like the momentum of the first two sets was going to transfer into set three with HHS leading 7-1 early on as serves by Davis, and points scored by Allie Roush and Tipton, left Hillsboro with the six-point lead. 

The two teams continued to battle with MHS getting to within three points of tying Hillsboro at 11-8, forcing the Lady Indians to call a timeout. From there, the score went to 12-8 with a point from Hillsboro’s Kayla Seeling, but MHS rallied with nine consecutive points for a 17-12 lead, as Wright had a kill, Korhi Toney had a block, Sarah Easter had an ace, another point was scored by Korhi Toney and there was a play at the net from Anna Eikenberry. 

MHS built an 18-3 lead following a kill by Eikenberry, and the lead sat at 20-15 when Wright put a point on the board. 

HHS scored their final point with a hit from Tipton, but McClain was too strong at the end of set three with a kill from Lydia Beatty, followed by a point by Kylea Toney and two final points by MHS to seal the set-three win at 25-16. 

“I am proud about them coming back and battling, because they started out not as fast as we normally do, so they could have just easily shut down in that third set,” McClain head coach Taylor Alsop said. “I talked to them about what we were doing on the court and what we had already went over this week, and I shared with them that this could be the seniors’ last game, and I needed them to go all out, 100 percent. I told the younger girls that even though it's not your last game, we still need you to go all out, because here soon, it might be your last game. 

“We kind of just talked about that and talked about how we needed to be aggressive and make sure we weren't sending free balls, and we were trying to make it hard on them instead just giving them an easy play or an easy pass.”

The fourth set went to extra points, but it started with a 10-1 McClain lead, with a serve from Easter and points by Wright, plus a point at the net from Beatty. 

HHS battled back with points from Spruell, Seeling and Josie Rhoades, for a score of 11-6 in favor of McClain. Following a timeout, MHS added points with a 13-7 advantage and then held a 15-10 lead. 

The set kept going with both teams battling back and forth, until the score eventually was tied at 22-22. The score was then tied at 23 and 24, until Hillsboro took the lead for good with the final two points for a 26-24 win. 

“They all played really well around again,” Jones said of her team. “Cam had some good blocks on McClain’s team. Sam had some good kills. Our back row had some great passes. Ryan Wagoner had some great spots that she was pushing balls. I mean, they all do good, and they all play well.

“Tylee is definitely my number-one server. She's the most consistent, so I always put her at serving first, and I know she can go back there and serve to 15, 20 in a row.”

McClain ends the season at 7-16 overall. Seniors playing their final game were: Brenna Wright, Katie Cook, Anna Eikenberry, Sarah Easter, Madalyn Griffin and Kylea Toney. 

“I think this season, it wasn't what really any of us expected,” Alsop said. “We've kind of moved some people around and had to play different positions.

“Three of my seniors are captains, and I think they do a really good job of stepping up and just being the team players that are like, ‘hey, if the team needs this, I’ll do it.’ Brenna Wright is one of my captains, and Anna Eikenberry is one of my captains, and Kylea Toney is one of my captains.

“I think it's going to be hard to replace all of my seniors,” Alsop continued. “I know we have girls that are waiting to fill their spots, and they're going to work really hard, and they've seen what we can accomplish, and I think they're ready for it. It is going to be tough, though, to replace those seniors.”

The win improves Hillsboro to an overall record of 16-7, and next for them is a district quarterfinal game on Wednesday, Oct. 17 at Circleville High School against the No. 2 seeded Circleville Lady Tigers (15-7) with a 7 p.m. start. 

“It's very exciting,” Jones said of advancing in the district tournament. “It's only been done a couple of times, from what [athletic director Brett] Prince has told me, so this is the year the girls really wanted to show up for our community. They have a lot to prove.”

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