WATERFORD - The Waterford High and Fort Frye High volleyball teams have both had very successful 2012 campaigns.
When the two schools met at Waterford in a non-conference match up Wednesday, only one could come out on top.
The Lady Wildcats were the victors in four games, improving to 17-4 overall and 13-2 in the Tri-Valley Conference. The Lady Cadets dropped to 12-6 overall and 8-4 in the Pioneer Valley Conference.
Article Photos
JORDAN HOLLAND The Marietta Times
Waterford’s Chelsey Paxton spikes the ball as Fort Frye’s Allie Hesson (7) and Abby Baker (8) try to block it.
It looked like it would be a clean sweep for Waterford after taking the first two games, each by a score of 25-17.
Fort Frye had other plans by rebounding with a 25-18 win the third game. The Lady Cadets started off with a 4-0 run, triggered by two aces from Allie Hesson. Abby Baker then recorded a kill to make it 5-0. After Waterford got on the board to make it 5-1, Deidra Combs and Megan Hesson each responded with a kill to make it 7-1.
A little later, an ace by Bailey Thieman, a spike by Combs and another ace by Thieman ran it to 12-1. At 14-3, a kill by Chelsey Paxton and an ace by Brooke Drayer made it 14-5, but a serve into the net and a Baker ace brought it right back to an 11-point lead.
Fact Box
At Waterford High School
Waterford d. Fort Frye 25-17,
25-17, 18-25, 25-9
Waterford (17-4, 13-2) stats: Brooke Drayer 15pts, 1ace, 1asst, 8kills, 5blocks, 2digs; Jayde Heiss 8pts, 2aces, 2asst, 6kills, 2blocks, 9digs; Laura Hill 4pts, 2aces, 2asst, 8kills, 1block, 4digs; Taylor Hilverding 6pts, 10kills, 3blocks, 7digs; Alyssa Miller 8pts, 3aces, 39asst, 3kills, 3blocks, 2digs; Chelsey Paxton 5pts, 2asst, 10kills, 8digs; Tori Pyatt 3pts, 1kill; Katie Semon 3digs; Maddy Sury 3kills, 1dig
Fort Frye (12-6, 8-4) stats: Deidra Combs 9kills, 1asst, 4blocks, 7digs, 2pts, 1ace; Lexi Huck 9kills, 3digs, 3pts; Abby Baker 3kills, 1asst, 3digs; Ellie Schwendeman 4digs, 1asst; Allie Hesson 19asst, 1kill, 1block, 2digs, 7pts, 4aces; Bailey Thieman 5kills, 1asst, 7digs, 8pts, 3aces; Natalie Smith 2kills, 1block; Megan Hesson 2kills, 4digs; 2pts, 1ace; Alyssa Skinner 1asst, 2digs
JV: Waterford d. Fort Frye 25-19, 25-23
Waterford (17-1, 14-1) stats: Allison Rohrer 4kills; Haley McCutcheon 2pts, 1ace, 3kills; Olivia Bellville 4pts, 1asst, 3kills; Emily Smith 4pts, 3aces, 6asst, 1kill; Regan Porter 2pts, 1ace, 2kills; Katrina Schwendeman 1asst; Dani Drayer 7pts, 2aces, 2kills; Jessie Reynolds 1block; Nicole Neslein 3pts; Hannah Dailey 8asst; Sury 3pts, 1ace, 3kills
Next match: Belpre at Waterford at 6 p.m. Thursday (Senior Night)
Later, Taylor Hilverding for Waterford and Lexi Huck for Fort Frye traded kills to make it 17-7. After an ace by Megan Hesson, Hilverding and Laura Hill got kills to cut it to 18-10. That was as close as it would get until Hilverding and Jayde Heiss notched kills to bring it to 24-18, but Huck finished the game off with a kill to make it 2-1 in the match.
Waterford was able to put the match away in the fourth game in a convincing 25-9 victory. Hilverding recorded an ace, and two kills by Hill made it 3-1. A block by Drayer made it 5-2, but Huck responded with a kill to make it 5-3.
Waterford would take five straight points, paced by kills from Paxton and Hilverding, to go up 10-3. The Lady Wildcats then went on a 4-2 run to make it 14-5, and then a 6-3 run to make it 20-8. Drayer and Megan Hesson traded kills to make it 21-9. Drayer then recorded a kill and a block to up the lead to 23-9. At 24-9, Drayer finished it off with a spike to clinch the victory for Waterford.
Waterford head coach Jandy Drayer was impressed with the effort by Fort Frye.
"They're a very good team," she said. "They have a lot of nice athletes. They always come to play, and it's fun to play them."
Brooke Drayer, who recorded a game high 15 points, played through a shoulder injury to lead the Lady Wildcats.
"I've just been doctored up," Drayer said. "The team needed me. I've got to tough it out."
"The keys to victory were staying together as a team, wanting it, and going after every loose ball," she added.
Drayer also had a game high five blocks to go along with eight kills and two digs. Other top performers for Waterford were Heiss with nine digs, Hilverding and Paxton with 10 kills a piece, and Alyssa Miller with 39 assists and three aces.
Fort Frye's top performers were Combs and Huck, who each had nine kills. Combs also had seven digs and four blocks, while Huck recorded three digs and three points. Allie Hesson notched 19 assists and seven points and Thieman chipped in eight points, seven digs and five assists.
Fort Frye head coach Sam Skinner was happy with his team's play and said they just ran into a tough team.
"Waterford's a good team," Skinner said. "You've got to match them point for point. They can go on runs of four or five points. We get on runs of one or two points. It's hard for us to continually keep up with them because they put the ball on the floor so good."
Coach Drayer, whose Wildcats will be the three seed in the Division IV District tournament, said passing was a big factor in the match.
"We struggled a little bit with our passing in the first game," Drayer said. "We were just overpassing some too close to the net. Once we got that going we were able to roll on offense a little better."
NOTES: This was the second match between Waterford and Fort Frye this season, with Waterford also winning the first match in four games on Sept. 19 at Fort Frye High School... Wednesday's match was a "Volley for the Cure" game...Waterford's next match on Thursday will be its "Senior Night," as well as its final match of the regular season.
