Big Walnut’s Hattie Welker (1) hammers home a kill during the second set of Wednesday’s OCC showdown against visiting Delaware Hayes.
Ben Stroup | The Gazette
The Big Walnut girls volleyball team got back to its winning ways Wednesday, snapping a two-game skid with a straight-set win over visiting Delaware Hayes.
The Golden Eagles, who improved to 9-6 overall and 5-3 in OCC-Capital Division action, cruised to a 25-12 opening-set win. The Pacers, now 5-8 overall and 3-5 in league play, battled in the second, but BW surged ahead toward the end to take it 25-22 before sealing the deal with a 25-9 win in the third.
The teams traded points en route to a 4-4 start in the competitive second set. The Eagles pulled ahead with three straight points including a kill by Hattie Welker, who had a match-high 13 when all was said and done, but a service error later in the set evened things at eight.
Big Walnut’s Teagan Ng lofted a drop-shot over Hayes’ front line to make it 11-8, but Hayes’ Claire Davis collected back-to-back kills to keep her team within striking distance.
A block by the Eagles’ Lexi Stooksbury, who had four on the night, made it 16-12, though, and a kill by Welker ballooned the margin to 17-12.
The Pacers hung tough, getting an ace from Kami Pelletier-Harris before Davis tied the set at 18-all with a kill, but the Eagles’ Abbi Swisher ended what was a 3-0 run with back-to-back kills. After Hayes got back within one thanks to a kill by Taylor Dushane, a Swisher solo block gave Big Walnut the second-set win.
A kill by Dushane got the Pacers within two early in the third set, but the Eagles rolled from there. Back-to-back aces by Welker made it 15-5, and BW led by as many as 14 points, 20-6, when Natalie Vrancken posted back-to-back aces of her own.
Hayes returns to action Tuesday against visiting Westerville North while Big Walnut will look to make it two wins in a row against host Westerville South. Both games are slated to start at 6:45 p.m.
Also: Olentangy Berlin def. Marysville 25-13, 25-17, 25-22.
GIRLS SOCCER
Olentangy Berlin secured its fourth win in a row Thursday night in Newark, rolling past the host Wildcats 5-1 in non-league action.
Up just 1-0 at halftime, the Bears erupted for four second-half tallies to account for the final margin.
Addison Lambert scored twice while Julia Mortimer, Fina Davy and Casey Gorka also added goals.
Mortimer and Davy also had assists while Claire Walden and Annette Oberhauser collected one save apiece while splitting time in the Berlin goal.
From Tuesday
Delaware Hayes used a balanced attack to pick up a league win Tuesday night, getting five goals from five different players en route to a 5-0 win over visiting Westerville South.
Ellie Roberson opened the scoring off a feed from Adrionna Brown while Harlow Dye, Reese Laaksonen, Brown and Mady Haser added goals to pad the Pacers’ edge as the night wore on.
South’s Emma Champe finished with 13 saves while Hayes keeper Josie DeRosa didn’t face a shot on the way to notching the shutout.
Also: Dublin Coffman 3, Olentangy Orange 0.
BOYS SOCCER
Jacob Marshall and Kael Dorsey scored goals as Big Walnut battled to a 2-2 draw against host Worthington Kilbourne Thursday night.
Both teams scored twice in the second half to account for the final margin.
From Tuesday
Westerville South snuck in a late goal, scoring with a minute left to escape with a 2-2 draw against visiting Delaware Hayes Tuesday night in Westerville.
Chaz Sakala and Carson Maharry scored off feeds from Christian Cook and Isaiah Clark, respectively, to account for the Pacers’ scoring summary.
