Perrysburg’s Sophie Burkey, who had a team-best six kills, takes a swing against Anthony Wayne on Tuesday. (Nicholas Huenefeld | Sentinel-Tribune)
By Nicholas Huenefeld
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
PERRYSBURG — The Anthony Wayne volleyball team clicked on all cylinders Tuesday, delivering a 25-12, 25-20, 25-15 win over Perrysburg to clinch the Northern Lakes League Buckeye Division title.
“I just don’t think we stepped up to the plate,” Perrysburg coach Laura Davidson said. “We have a lot of talent and sometimes we need to be the aggressors, and we just let them be the aggressors tonight and play their game. They did a great job.”
As a team, Anthony Wayne totaled 42 kills compared to just 20 for Perrysburg. The tandem of Leah Pike (18) and Charley Gardner (12) combined for 30 kills for the Generals, which was 10 more than the Yellow Jackets had as a team.
Mallory Pike added eight kills, while Elena Carlson chipped in four for Anthony Wayne, who also recorded 14 aces as a team. Leah Pike led the Generals at the service line with five aces, while five others had at least one apiece, including three from Jessie Kennelly.
In total, Anthony Wayne scored 56 of their 75 points from terminations or the service line while tallying just 11 attack errors, five service errors and two bad sets.
“(We were) unstoppable (offensively),” Anthony Wayne coach Chrissy Graven said. “It seemed like we made really smart shots, tipped when we needed to and swung hard when we needed to.
“I thought our serving was super aggressive. It kept Perrysburg out of system to the point where we were getting a lot of free balls and (offspeed) roll shots so we could run an in-system offense.
“That was a huge difference maker.”
On Perrysburg’s side, Katie Pahl was held to just two kills by the Anthony Wayne defense. Sophie Burkey led the Yellow Jackets with six terminations, while the trio of Mackenzie Hurley, Allison McDowell and Kaylee Pierce had four apiece.
“Typically in a game like this, our big power hitters take over, and I don’t think we were able to do that tonight,” Davidson said. “I don’t think we passed poorly. It just seemed like we were always on the defense.”
The Generals never trailed in the opening set, reeling off eight of the match’s first 10 points behind a trio of kills and a pair of aces from Gardner.
Back-to-back terminations from Pahl and Pierce helped Perrysburg trim that deficit to three, but Anthony Wayne responded with nine of the next 11 points to open up an 18-8 lead.
The Generals closed out the set with four straight points, highlighted by a kill and an ace from Leah Pike, along with a combo block from Carlson and Mallory Pike.
“I felt like we were in control the whole time, even when it was a little bit tighter,” Graven said. “We were composed and stayed in control.”
Perrysburg held 2-1 and 3-2 leads early in the second set, the latter of which came following a termination from McDowell.
Leah Pike added two aces to complete a 4-0 run for Anthony Wayne, who took a 6-3 lead, although an ace from Pahl and an attack error from the Generals tied it up at seven apiece.
Another rare attack error from Anthony Wayne tied it at 10 apiece, but Gardner slammed home an overpass, Ryan Dzierwa added an ace, and Gardner picked up another kill to give the Generals a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Anthony Wayne led by five twice a short time later, although back-to-back kills from Pierce pulled the Yellow Jackets within 19-17.
A service error and a kill down the middle from Gardner not only ended that momentum, but gave setter Aubrey Rieger her 1,000th career assist for the Generals.
Perrysburg got back within 22-20, but Anthony Wayne scored the final three points on a pair of kills from Leah Pike and a back row termination from Mallory Pike.
Davidson thought her team did a better job at limiting Anthony Wayne’s runs in the second frame, which was the closest of the match.
“I think we answered back better, and we were able to execute better on our side when we were able to pass and get the ball back,” she said. “We weren’t just giving them runs.”
The third set saw the Yellow Jackets take a 2-1 lead following an ace from Burkey, but Anthony Wayne capped a 10-0 run with an ace from Kennelly.
A service error, a bad set and multiple attack errors by Anthony Wayne helped Perrysburg pull within 12-9, but the Pike sisters combined for the next three points to force a Yellow Jacket timeout.
The Generals later closed out the match on a 5-0 run that included a trio of kills from Leah Pike, a termination from Gardner and an ace from Kennelly.
Perrysburg, which has now lost three straight, fell to 14-6 overall and 10-3 in the NLL (5-2 in Buckeye Division). They will travel to Findlay on Thursday before concluding the regular season against Clay next Wednesday.
With the victory, Anthony Wayne clinched the NLL Buckeye Division crown, improving to 19-1 overall and 13-0 in NLL play, which includes a 7-0 record in Buckeye play.
The Generals have won 14 consecutive matches over that stretch while dropping just four sets.
“Honestly with the rival match against Perrysburg, the girls are always jazzed up and ready to go,” Graven said. “There’s not much we really need to say as a staff. I think the girls deep down always want to beat them no matter the circumstances.”
