TROTWOOD — West Liberty-Salem’s volleyball team saw the playoff journey come to an end Tuesday, as they lost in five sets to Anna in a Division V district semifinal at Trotwood-Madison.
Anna rallied to win the first set 25-21, then took the second 25-16.
West Liberty-Salem stayed alive with a 27-25 win, then evened it by taking the fourth set 25-19.
WL-S got out to a good start in the tiebreaker, but the Lady Rockets came back to win and advance to Saturday’s district championship.
Ava Poppe had 10 kills, 20 digs, four blocs, and five aces.
Kiersten Stoll had 11 digs, with 10 each by Sophia Landon and Naomi Cole.
Cole had 14 kills, Lilli Heminger 12 and Reese Winters seven.
Lyndee Harrison had 18 assists and Landon made 16.
Heminger had six blocks, Cole and Reese Winters each recorded three.
Reagan Winters was 21 of 24 on serving and had 18 digs. Kenna Wright was 6-of-8 serving and made four digs.
With Poppe serving to start the match, the Lady Tigers won fthe first six rallies, which led Anna to call timeout.
Things evened out after that, with WL-S giving up a few points, but staying in the lead.
Trailing 12-7, Anna went on a four-point run to close the gap. They stayed within a few points before calling their second timeout, down 20-17.
They won a point to regain serve and got seven of the next eight to take the set.
The second set saw the teams exchange points to start. Anna briefly led before WL-S went up 8-7. Small runs by each side kept things close.
Anna then used a 10-1 outburst to seize control. The Tigers used both timeouts during this stretch, but found themselves down 20-12.
The Lady Tigers got four of the next five, then Anna closed it out.
Anna had the control early in the third set, building a 9-5 lead.
After a four-point run by the Tigers tied it, the Rockets bounced back with a 6-1 scoring edge to lead 17-10.
West Liberty-Salem closed the gap, then really started rolling and scored eight straight for a 22-20 advantage.
Anna tied it, then each team scored two points. After another exchange, WL-S got two to win the set and extend the match.
The fourth set favored the Tigers early on, but only by a few points.
With the score tied at 10, WL-S got five consecutive points. More back and forth followed, then a 5-0 run, with Heminger serving pushed their lead to 23-15.
Anna got a brief rally, but the Tigers won by six to bring it to the fifth and final set.
WL-S won the first four and seven of the first nine points. However, the Rockets streaked back in front with 10 in a row.
They then exchanged points three times, as Anna finished off the hard fought win.
West Liberty-Salem’s final record is 20-4.
——
In other playoff action:
Bethel 3, Ben Logan 2
XENIA — Benjamin Logan pushed Bethel to five sets before falling in a Division IV district semifinal Tuesday.
Bethel won the first two sets 25-19 and 28-26. The Lady Raiders then rebounded with wins of 29-27 and 25-21.
In the tiebreaker, the Bees won 15-4.
Ben Logan ends the year at 9-15.
——
Oakwood 3, Indian Lake 1
XENIA — Indian Lake lost to Oakwood in a Division IV district semifinal on Tuesday.
The Lady Lakers won the first set 25-22. Oakwood then got wins of 25-22, 25-10 and 26-24.
Cami Bailey had 16 kills, 19 digs and was 10-of-10 from the service line.
Courtney Altstaetter had 12 kills; Kit Miller had 15 digs and seven kills; Alivia Kinney had two kills and two blocks, Makenna Hurley seven digs, and Riley Ross had 12 digs.
Annie Rapp was 13-of-13 serving, with seven digs, two blocks, and three kills.
Addyson Beck had 18 digs and hit 8-of-8 serving.
Addy Roby had 36 assists and 15 digs, and was 16-of-16 serving with one ace.
Indian Lake’s final record is 19-5.
——
Bellefontaine 3, Butler 0
XENIA — Bellefontaine defeated Butler in straight sets in a Division III district semifinal on Monday.
The Lady Chieftains won 25-20, 25-23, and 25-16.
Jillian Ullom led the defense with 20 digs, and Ava Layman had 16. Kelsie Snapp made 14, Kaeleigh Flora 10 and Madi Zedeker provided eight.
Bellefontaine had 19 blocks, with four each by Alayna Boyd and Layman; three apiece by Flora, Snapp and Zedeker, and two from Presley Vigansky.
On the attack, Snapp had 15 kills, Layman 14, Flora 10 and Vigansky four, with Zedeker racking up 39 assists.
Vigansky was also perfect serving, going 12-for-12 with one ace. Layman had three aces and Ullom two.
Bellefontaine is now 18-6 on the year. They will face #3 seed Cincinnati Turpin for the district title on Saturday at 5 p.m. at Fairfield Arena.
The winner moves to the regional semifinals.
