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Lady Colts post three wins to advance to D-II District

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ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- The sixth-seeded Meadowbrook Colts used strong play from their front line and excellent service by Bre Voytko, Sara Stein and Kaitlyn Tonnous to sweep the fifth-seeded St. Clairsville Red Devils on their floor 25-17, 25-17, 25-9 in the Division II Sectional Tournament.

"Tonight we were very focused and very determined," stated first-year Meadowbrook coach Kelly Singleton. "They got a higher seed than us, although I feel we play a little bit tougher of a schedule, but St. Clairsville is always a tough team. I told my girls to keep it away from Alex Pokas. I felt like my seniors and everyone did a nice job keeping the ball away from her and I didn't see her get half as many touches as usual.

"My front row, thank goodness for my senior and two juniors, because they have been a big help all year," Singleton stated, referring to the line of Katherine Jirles, Shelby Stover and Candace Neff.

"I think we had the adrenaline going in the second game and once we fell flat, we weren't able to get it going again in the third game," said emotional St. C. coach Rebecca Hayes. "Meadowbrook definitely came at us. They knew what we were capable of, played a different lineup, and they were ready."

The Colts (15-8) and Lady Devils (15-8) played a spirited first game, trading points before Voytko served seven straight times with a pair of aces. Meanwhile, the Devils repeatedly shot themselves in the foot with 10 points attributed to various errors on their side of the net. The closest St. Clairsville got was seven points before the Colts scored the game winner on an errant St.C. serve.

In the second game, the visitors jumped on the hosts quickly behind eight straight serves by Stein, building a 12-2 lead before losing serve. The lead remained at 10 before the Lady Devils started closing the gap behind the serving of Pokas and Taylor Mick. Lexie King and Sarah Slenski also dominated the net during the comeback, combining for six kills or blocks as St. C. pulled within 20-17. That was also the end of the effort as Jirles recorded two kills while taking back the net and Stein closed with four straight serves.

Meadowbrook salted things away early in the deciding match, as Voytko fired 13 straight serves with four aces to cruise to a 12-0 lead. St. Clairsville came back behind the arm of Sammie Witchey, whose service closed the deficit to seven, 13-6. The Colts outscored St. Clairsville 12-3 to close the game out, with Stef Beskid serving the final six points and Stover gaining a pair of kills and a block to end things.

Voytko led the Colts with 19 points, 17 assists and seven aces. Stein added 13 points, while Tonnous contributed 12 assists. Jirles hammered home 13 kills while Stover had 10 kills and two blocks. Neff was good for 11 digs and nine kills and Beskid was 26-of-28 passing and had 11 digs.

For St. Clairsville, Pokas finished with 16 digs and an ace; King had seven kills and four blocks; Erica Costine finished with nine assists and seven digs; and Mick had nine digs, four kills and two aces.

* * * * *

ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- "This is your game to win...play like it. Play with intensity, play to win, and stay positive."

These were the words used by Meadowbrook High volleyball coach Kelly Singleton headed into the decisive fifth game of the Division II Sectional Tournament quarterfinals on John Jenkins Court at St. Clairsville High School, and they apparently struck a chord as the Lady Colts upset the second-seeded Indian Creek Lady Redskins 25-18, 17-25, 25-21, 18-25, 17-15.

"This is definitely an upset win and we knew that Indian Creek was going to be tough going in," stated Singleton following the contest. "A lot of people said the river schools (in the OVAC) don't play as tough of a schedule but I knew that they did and they only had a few losses, so we knew we had to play them tough all the way around."

The Redskins (19-4) had some tough luck before the match with a pair of players injured in warm-ups, pressing freshman Carly Martin into varsity action for the first time this season.

The Lady Skins, however, did not miss a beat as they jumped to an early 4-0 lead. Meadowbrook (16-8) rallied back behind the net play of Katherine Jirles and Darien Singleton and the Lady Colts took control when Candace Neff had six consecutive serves and Jirles killed the final two points.

The second contest was also tightly-contested before Creek jumped ahead by six on a Taylor Fithen kill and the Colts got no closer.

In the third game, Christina Furda put Indian Creek up 5-0 early on service, but the Colts rallied back with Jirles and Neff running the net. Although the Skins rallied within 24-20, Neff hammered home the winner for a 2-1 advantage.

The fourth game belonged to the 'Skins, with Furda serving 11 points total, and although the Colts drew within three points, Indian Creek ran away as Meadowbrook made seven errors that gave their opponents points and another point was lost when they called a timeout that they did not have.

The final game was back-and-forth as seven of the last eight points were on traded serves before Jirles broke a 15-all tie with two nasty kills for the win.

Jirles finished the night with 23 kills and six blocks, three of them solos. She also was 38-of-42 passing with 13 digs. Neff had 16 kills, 11 digs, nine points and was 30-of-33 passing, while Sara Stein had 16 points and 10 kills. Singleton recorded six kills and four block and Stef Beskid was 45-of-52 passing with 35 digs. Bre Voytko finished with 25 assists and Kaitlyn Tonnous had 23 points to go with nine points.

"The girls have been consistent all year and they are now really starting to get comfortable in their positions and we are starting to be able to run different offenses," complimented Singleton concerning her front line players. "All the way around, we did an excellent job."

* * * * *

ST. CLAIRSVILLE--After losing the first two games of their Division II Sectional co-final match against Minerva High, the Meadowbrook Lady Colts volleyball team rallied back to win, 15-25, 24-26, 25-23, 25-21 and 15-11.

The first game was close in the early stages, featuring 11 lead changes and 10 ties. Minerva (12-13) pulled away when Kelsey Diels and Mason Hardgrove initiated a series of fierce net plays while Meadowbrook helped out with six unforced errors.

Game two was a lot tighter, as the Lady Colts squandered a four-point lead when Diels again lit up the front row with eight kills, bringing the Lady Lions back to take the game, 26-24.

In a crucial moment, Meadowbrook coach Kelly Singleton credited her team with motivating themselves to fight their way back to contention.

"The comeback was all on the team," Singleton acknowledged. "I said nothing to get them motivated."

The third game saw Meadowbrook (19-8) dig its way out of a four-point hole, using significant front action from Katherine Jirles, Candace Neff and Shelby Stover and taking the game, 25-23.

After leaping out to a lead in the fourth game, the Lady Colts were forced to fend off a Minerva onslaught, continuing to assert their dominance at the net for a 25-21 win.

The final game was more of the same, with both teams clawing for an advantage. Finally, it was Neff who came up big in the clutch, slamming three kills in the last five points. The Lady Colts took a 15-11 victory and are headed to the district.

Meadowbrook was led by Jirles, who recorded 25 kills, 12 digs, 10 points and went 39-40 passing. Neff added 17 kills and seven digs and was 43-of-44 passing; Voytko dished out 31 assists and scored 13 points; Kaitlynn Tonnous distributed 27 assists; Stover spiked 17 kills and six blocks; and Stefanie Beskid registered a whopping 71-of-74 passing mark with 13 digs.

Minerva's Diels managed 27 kills, while Nicole Christner had six blocks and Taylor Maurer led the defense with 18 digs.

"Tonight's win was a total team effort," commented Meadowbrook's Singleton.

NEXT--Meadowbrook faces Cambridge on Saturday at Ridgewood in the Division II District co-finals at Ridgewood High School in West Lafayette. Game time is 6 p.m.