Nelsonville-York redeems early-season loss to Athens to secure share of TVC-Ohio crown

The Plains — You need your best athletes to step up when it matters most. When they do, sometimes you just need to keep feeding them.

For a program that has consistently seen its student-athletes rise up to the occasion throughout the past few years, Nelsonville-York added another key memory after responding from dire circumstances.

Battling with Athens for the top of the Tri-Valley Conference-Ohio in what became a game of the year contender, the Buckeyes (19-3, 11-1 TVC-Ohio) redeemed the team’s three-set sweep to the Bulldogs (17-4, 10-1 TVC-Ohio) earlier this season with an emotional, thrilling five-set victory to secure the road victory in the final week of the season.

Coming back from a 2-1 deficit on the road, the Buckeyes won with a score of 25-19, 14-25, 25-27, 25-19, 15-10 by the end.

“It’s a mark to show what these seniors can do. We have great senior leadership on the team. They knew coming into the night that Athens, I mean they’re a phenomenal volleyball team… we knew we had our work cut out for us,” Wayne Dicken, the head coach of the Buckeyes said after the win when asked about what it means to the program. “We stressed mental toughness throughout the game… they locked down when they needed to.”

With the win, Nelsonville-York has now clinched at least a share of the TVC-Ohio title for the third straight season. Only with one conference loss, Athens can still earn its share of the divisional crown with a victory over Alexander this Thursday.

As mentioned previously, you need to feed your biggest hitters when it matters the most. Sometimes you need to metaphorically eat a bowl of cereal to get the point across.

Coming up with arguably the most clutch performance of the year for Nelsonville-York, Kyleigh Warren absolutely stole the show on Tuesday night. The senior carried the team all night but made the most critical plays when the program needed it the most.

With Dicken physically motioning to Megan Booth to keep feeding the star hitter, the Buckeyes set up pass after pass for Warren with the athlete coming through nearly every time. Adding on, she came up with a fantastic diving stop in the fifth set, flying across the entire court to help. It’s something Dicken characterizes as a championship-level play.

“Kyleigh Warren came alive like she always does for us. A lot of times she has to put the team on her back. She trusts her teammates but we know when she’s on we’re going to feed her the ball as much as she can,” Dicken noted about the senior. “She swings so hard, so much aggression that it was a no-brainer… she came through when she needed it to and we’re glad she’s on our team.”

Warren finished the night with a game-high 25 kills. Gianna Dixon spiked 13 while both Chloee Vohlken and Booth finished with seven. Booth also recorded 45 assists to set up the offense while Warren recorded eight aces.

Defensively, Delaney Dean and Warren took over, each grabbing more than 20 digs apiece. Dean led the way with 28 while Warren pitched in 25. Kenzie VanBibber and Booth each tallied 11.

Grabbing control early, it looked as if Nelsonville-York was more than prepared to erase the demons of a few weeks ago. Jumping out quickly to a 20-12 lead in the opening set, the team eventually forced Athens’ head coach Hailee Hart into a timeout with the Bulldogs’ backs against the wall.

Showing the resiliency that got Athens in the spot to fight for a divisional title anyway, the team refused to quit, cutting the lead down to just four points. That forced Dicken into a timeout to slow down the momentum with the Buckeyes grabbing the final two points to secure the initial set. A kill from Warren served as the set-clincher.

The Buckeyes carried the momentum right after with an emphatic kill from Dixon kicking off the second set but the Bulldogs weren’t ready to just lie down. Fighting back to tie things up at eight apiece, a string of impressive strikes from Toadvine opened up a lead for Athens, forcing Nelsonville-York into a timeout.

The stop in play did little to halt the Bulldogs’ momentum with the team racing out to a 17-10 lead before the Buckeyes could get another point. Continuing to rout, Athens ultimately ran away with the set with a miscommunication from the Buckeyes allowing the Bulldogs to secure the set and tie things up.

After two highly competitive sets, the third is where this one really started to become an instant classic.

Nelsonville-York immediately jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the blink of an eye but as the team continuously did all night, Athens responded. Batting back, the Bulldogs eventually tied things up at 12 apiece. From there, the two programs were tied up three separate times before Athens eventually secured a 20-17 lead.

After a timeout from Dicken, Nelsonville-York responded with a quick run to once again tie things up, this time at 21 apiece. That’s about when things really got funky.

Quickly grabbing a 24-22 lead, the Buckeyes had set point with the serve coming. Following some back-and-forth action, Dixon spiked down an emphatic kill to seemingly snag the set. The senior hitter was give a line violation though, extending the set even further.

Going into extras in the third, an ace from Reed ultimately gave Athens the incredible comeback victory in the third, opening up a 2-1 lead for the program.

“As much success as we’ve had, we try to enter every game as if we’re the underdog… we just try to stay scrappy, make plays and stay consistent,” Dicken said when asked about the team’s response to falling down 2-1.

It was once again a back-and-forth battle in the fourth before Nelsonville-York stormed away, forcing the Bulldogs into a timeout down 11-6. Athens eventually cut the lead down to 18-15 at one point but the experience and prowess of Warren took over from there.

Leading the charge, Warren kept the Buckeyes a few points ahead before a few powerful kills from the star hitter to make it a 24-19 game. A few second later, Booth put a sneaky touch over the net to tie things up at two apiece with a fifth set still looming.

The Buckeyes were clearly locked in from there, opening up a quick lead. With the score sitting at 6-2, Warren made arguably the play of the year by sprinting from the opposite side of the court and laying out full extension to save a free ball.

The play was so close to ultimately meaning nothing with Athens storming back to take an 8-7 lead at one point, but Warren just wasn’t done. She would be responsible for the next few points as Dicken continued to press getting her the ball.

Although the Bulldogs once again cut the lead down to one point, the strategy ultimately played off. Grabbing a 14-10 lead, another fancy touch from Booth hit the net and the Nelsonville-York student section rushed the court as the team secured yet another divisional title.

As of now, Athens still has the chance to earn their share of the title with a win over Alexander on the road this Thursday. Nelsonville-York on the other hand is done with its regular season and will now wait over two weeks until jumping into postseason play.