Nelsonville-York overcomes slow start to down Spartans

ALBANY — Nothing worth attaining is ever going to be easy.

A program that has displayed utter dominance on the court over the past few seasons, Nelsonville-York has practically breezed through the conference competition the past few turns around the sun. The Buckeyes haven’t lost a Tri-Valley Conference-Ohio game since the 2021 season.

On the first night of divisional play this time around however Nelsonville-York (3-1) was given a tough test, fending off Alexander on the road to secure a four-set victory over the Spartans. Alexander (1-3) picked up the first set before the Buckeyes stormed back to grab three straight to end the night. Each of the final two sets were decided by three points.

In the end, the final tally on the scoresheet read 20-25, 25-13, 25-22, 25-22 in the Buckeyes’ victory.

“Anytime you come to Alexander, it’s a tough game. They always have a great team, they have a great program and they’re well coached,” Wayne Dicken, the head coach of Nelsonville-York said after the drama-filled win. “Luckily we were able to withstand that first punch, we got back off the mat, we settled down a little bit and luckily came out of here with a win.”

For the Buckeyes, it was a two-headed effort offensively with Kyleigh Warren and Gianna Dixon leading the charge. The two seniors knocked down 15 and 14 kills respectively while Chloee Vohlken, Cat Dixon and Megan Booth each finished with six. Booth also finished with 41 assists to lead the team

Defensively, Delaney Dean stole the show with 20 digs out of the libero spot. The senior also added a team-high seven serving aces. Kenzie VanBibber finished with 17 digs while Booth and Warren both finished with 16.

“Delaney Dean picked up a lot of slack for us tonight. Alexander was swinging well and she was super scrappy in the back row,” Dicken said of the play of his libero. “Delaney got us started there and the rest of the girls filled in.”

On the Spartans’ side, Meena Juedes led the way with 14 kills while Lila Moser and Marissa Beach tallied seven and five respectively.

Defensively, Jade Seaman and Abbi Ohms tallied a team-high 13 digs each. Ava McCall pitched in 11 and Kaylee Johnson dug up 10. Seaman also finished with a team-high 28 assists.

More than just the opening night of divisional play, beating Alexander in Albany is always a little extra special for Dicken, a former graduate of Alexander High School.

“When I come back here I know a lot of people in the community... it’s a wonderful community,” Dicken said with a big smile. “Beating them is not bitter, it’s sweet. I love the people here and I wish them the best every game, except for ours.”

So used to dominating divisional foes over the past few seasons, Nelsonville-York had to withstand a heavy hook at the start of the night. Led by a dominant defensive charge from those at the front line, Alexander stymied any offensive flow from the Buckeyes early.

At one point, the Spartans went on a 9-4 run to force Dicken into a timeout down 18-9. The stop in play did little to halt the momentum though as Alexander continued to roar with a spike from Juedes capping off the opening set.

“Credit to Alexander, they played lights out on everything. They were all over the floor,” Dicken said, tossing praise towards the Spartans’ effort in the first set. “We just couldn’t find spots. Their net play was amazing.”

Coming with the success over the past few years, the Buckeyes have been in quite a few high-intensity games over that span. The team showed exactly why over the next hour or so.

The second set started off much the same as the first with neither side being able to garner a significant advantage. That was until Dean stepped up to serve.

The senior libero, with some nifty serves, was a key part of a 8-0 run that suddenly gave the Buckeyes room to breath. Alexander head coach Lauren Hill did all she could to try and quell the momentum by calling a timeout down 19-9 but nothing was going to stop the Buckeyes. Fitting for the set, Dean ended the second with a looping third-hit that tied things up at one apiece overall.

Genuinely, the third set of the night could’ve gone either way. The largest lead anyone had during that time was just a three-point cushion. Once it was tied at 10 apiece, the two programs tied up scores six different times with the scoreboard eventually reading 21 all.

Nelsonville-York held a 23-22 lead before scoring the final two points of the set with a kill from Vohlken giving the Buckeyes a 2-1 lead on the night.

The two highly-talented teams started battling back-and-forth once again, tying multiple times before locking up at 10-10 once again. This time, the two schools tied each other up an absurd nine times on the way to being deadlocked at 20 apiece with intensity at its highest. It was a constant back-and-forth flow of points from either side.

After falling down two points, the Spartans fought back to tie things up at 22 apiece, desperately trying to keep the contest alive. The fight died out though as the Buckeyes secured the final two points, escaped with a hectic victory and kept its divisional unbeaten streak alive.

“We faced a lot of pressure tonight... we were able to stay calm,” Dicken said, mentioning how the tough battles right now may become useful down the road. “Luckily we were able to settle down towards the end and put it away when we needed it the most.”

Nelsonville-York returns to a more comfortable environment on Thursday night when the team sees River Valley come into Ben Wagner Gymnasium. The Spartans head out to Vinton County on Thursday night to take on the Vikings in TVC-Ohio play.