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St. Marys' Audra Clark (12) and Madi Steger (7) go up to block the spike of Celina's Sidney Jenkins during Thursday's WBL match in St. Marys.
ST. MARYS - After a tough start to the season, St. Marys is starting to show its toughness.
The Roughriders improved to 2-0 in Western Buckeye League play with a five-set victory (23-25, 25-21, 25-20, 19-25, 15-9) over the rival Celina Bulldogs at Grand Lake Health System Court. St. Marys, which improved to 3-4 overall, has now won three of four. Celina fell to 3-5 overall and 1-1 in WBL play.
"I think we had some hesitation in the first set and in the fourth set," St. Marys coach Caley Yoder said. "Hesitation just creeps in, but volleyball is a game of momentum. You just have to keep it longer. That was a very fun game to watch, but momentum swings were just happening left and right."
"The girls have this type of togetherness that I really appreciate," she added. "I think they just really wanted that win."
Celina's McKenna Lonsway (13) spikes the ball during Thursday's WBL match at St. Marys.
Sidney Jenkins played big at the net for Celina down the stretch in the opening set, collecting a few kills and blocks to help her team overtake St. Marys. The Roughriders led 17-11 on back-to-back aces by Audrey Reineke, but Celina kept coming and eventually made the score 21-19 on an ace by Haley Kizer. A spike by Jenkins later leveled the score at 21-each. The set was tied twice more, but Celina broke a 23-all tie by scoring the final two points. St. Marys hit into the net on the final volley to complete a 25-23 finish.
Reineke sent home another ace to start set two as St. Marys again bolted to an early lead, scoring the first eight of 10 points. But Kizer got behind the service line and reeled off another long service run, adding two aces as she sent Celina ahead 12-11. The score was tied six times after, but St. Marys never trailed after a kill and a block by Reineke on consecutive sequences. Back-to-back kills by Madi Steger secured a 25-21 Rider win.
Celina started fast in the third set, then St. Marys played the comeback kid. The Bulldogs led for most of the set. They were in front 16-14 before the Roughriders made their move and secured a 25-20 win.
"Weren't we ahead in the second, third and fourth sets?" Celina coach Amy Sutter said. "We let some decently massive leads get away from us. I think we were our own worst enemy at moments. I don't know if we let up, but we made some unforced errors."
The Bulldogs never trailed in the fourth set. The score quickly ballooned from 4-0 to 13-3. The Riders crept back within four points on multiple occasions but eventually ran out of steam.
But they picked up steam with a 3-0 run to start the fifth set. The Bulldogs never got closer than two points after that.
St. Marys players celebrate after clinching the fifth set against Celina to take the match in a Western Buckeye League volleyball match on Thursday at Grand Lake Health System Court.
"After watching game film, I felt like we just haven't been able to finish," Yoder said. "We'd get to 18 and just pump the brakes a little bit. That's how I've been describing it to the girls. It was good to see us finish."
Maddie Maher finished with a team-high 16 kills to lead St. Marys. Audrey Reineke (11 kills, five aces, two blocks), Sophie Olyear (10 kills), Audra Clark (40 assists), Chloe Christopher (five aces), Bailey Greber (13 digs), Elle Craft (12 digs), Avery Dieringer (11 digs) and Audrey Chiles (two blocks) also had solid statistical nights.
Lilly Shreffler (12 kills, 14 digs, three blocks), Kizer (40 assists, 11 digs) and Jenkins (game-high 21 kills, two blocks, 19 digs) highlighted the Celina stat sheet.
St. Marys returns to action on Tuesday as New Bremen comes to town. Celina is off until next Thursday when the Bulldogs host Van Wert in WBL play.
