Tough first set loss sends Buckeye Trail to season ending defeat in D-III sectional final

BYESVILLE − A key moment late in the first set of the night during Thursday's Division III sectional final at Meadowbrook High School with No. 4 seed Buckeye Trail doing battle with No. 5 seed Garaway proved to be pivotal in deciding the outcome.

A fierce battle took the place the entire first set, with a total of 15 ties between the pair of Inter-Valley Conference foes, with the final one coming at 25-25 on Trail sophomore Kayleigh Abram's cross court kill.

Buckeye Trail earned the point, along with the serve looking to close out the first set victory with senior Kaydence Starr stepping behind the service line.

Starr hammered an huge ace on her first attempt to put the Lady Warriors up 26-25, one point away from a huge momentum swing. Starr sent the ball over the net, and the two teams volleyed the ball back and forth until senior Josie Creighton went up at the net and hammered the ball into the back row for what looked like the game-winner.

But to the disbelief of the Buckeye Trail faithful, the line judge ruled the ball out and the point went to Garaway for the 16th tie of the set...this time at 26-26.

Garaway took full advantage of the controversial call and junior Jordyn Keim banged home back-to-back service points against the stunned Lady Warriors squad for the 28-26 victory.

That tough loss proved too much for the Lady Warriors to overcome, dropping the next two sets by scores of 25-18 and 25-14 to end their season with a record of 18-4.

"That was a tough set to lose for sure," Buckeye Trail head coach Wendy McVicker explained. It was tight all the way, and then to be so close to pulling it out and come up short. Very hard to overcome and I don't think the girls were the same after that. But give Garaway credit, they played a very good game tonight."

"Then Garaway came out hard in the second set as well, and I thought we did also," McVicker added. "I think the girls gave their best effort as they have all year. We did everything we could think of and it just didn't work out tonight. It's just very disappointing, these girls had just a great year and I'm so very proud of each and every one of them."

Starr finished with seven points, 15 digs, one save, one assist, one kill and a pair of blocks in a busy night of work for the Lady Warriors. Carpenter also tallied seven points, one ace with 13 digs, three saves, one assist, two kills, and one block. Junior Grace Shipe collected four points, one ace, along with 10 digs, and eight assists.

McVicker completed a fine freshman campaign with two points, 10 digs, one save, 15 assists and nine kills, while Creighton added three points, one ace, with six digs, one save, one assist, four kills and five blocks. Sophomore Kayleigh Abrams scored two points, along with one dig, and 10 kills for the Lady Warriors.

A pair of freshman contributed with Kayla Hinkle picking up 10 digs and Vayda Neuhart adding five kills, one dig and a pair of blocks.

Buckeye Trail closes out the year with a fine 18-5 mark, along with the runner-up slot in the Inter-Valley Conference North Division.

"We just were not ready for it to end. I tell you this group of girls just never threw in the towel all year," McVicker explained. "Even when the breaks went against them like tonight, they continued to fight, to just battle and never turned on each other. They were a true team all year, they played for each other. And I'm very proud to have been their coach. It was truly a great ride all season, I loved coming to practice every night."

Looking to the future, Buckeye Trail will lose only a pair of seniors in Starr and Creighton...but very valuable pieces that will be hard to replace next season. Another senior who will not be returning is Marina Rivolta, an exchange student from Italy who finished the season with the Lady Warriors.

""This loss in no way takes away the season these girls had, they accomplished a lot of good things," McVicker continued. "We have lot of positives to build on for next year. We will really miss Kaydence and Josie, they have been huge part of our program. They really stepped up into leadership roles this year, and helped push this team to the type of year we had. Wish both of them the best of luck in the future."

This article originally appeared on The Daily Jeffersonian: Buckeye Trail comes up just short in Division III sectional final loss to Garaway