Big Red volleyball squad celebrates senior night with a wild finish against Weir High
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STEUBENVILLE -- Senior night always presents an emotional time for celebration, no matter the sport or the situation.
Thursday night was no different inside the Crimson Center for the Big Red volleyball team. It became more special in the third and final set.
Steubenville, needing one more set victory to complete the sweep and season series over Weir High, trailed by three points in the third set. One more Red Rider point would have smelled a fourth set, and who knows what could have happened after that.
Instead, Big Red rallied for five straight points, and everyone got involved.
"Nothing but heart," Big Red head coach Kristin Taylor said. "The energy from the crowd today ... we had a packed house for senior night. They were playing for each other, and that was the difference."
Steubenville won by scores of 25-21, 25-17 and 26-24. It defeated Weir High (3-11) earlier in the season, as well.
Although this season has presented many challenges and Big Red (9-10) may not be where it wants to at this point, at least it can say it swept two of its biggest rivals in Weir High and Catholic Central.
"I honestly don't think it was about beating Weir. I think it was more about winning for ourselves for senior night," Taylor said. "I don't think it would've mattered who was on the other side of the net.
"I have coached a few girls from Weir during club volleyball. I know their talents and what they're about. It was nice to see that they were successful tonight, too. As a coach, you want to see kids do well."
The Red Riders also held a late lead in the first set, 20-18, before Steubenville mounted a comeback. Inexperience and a new system are a few of the main ingredients to Weir High's struggles Thursday night and in 2020.
"I think we worked well as a team," Weir High coach Francesca Capaldi said. "There were a lot of key situations where we couldn't come through. We just didn't come up big in the situations we needed to.
"We're still having growing pains with a new team and coach. The younger girls just aren't comfortable enough calling off older girls."
Emily Allen paced Big Red with 12 points, two aces, two kills, 24 assists and five digs. Anna Taylor had 13 kills and nine digs. Kylie Maxwell tallied nine kills and three blocks, while Tori Mitchell added three kills and seven blocks.
For the Red Riders, Ziona Barnes has been a bright spot of late. The junior had 10 kills and six digs on Thursday and was a big reason for her team's late lead in the final set. Weir High had a run of five straight points with her serving.
"Ziona is finally comfortable at where we're playing her," Capaldi said. "She started in the middle, then she went to the right side and then to the outside. Since then, she's really settling into the outside.
"She's been a well-rounded player since the beginning. She's a shy person, especially at first. I believe this is her first year starting on varsity. She hits well from all three positions and has a great serve."
Also for the Red Riders, Blaire McUmar had 10 kills and a dozen digs. Leah Maley produced five kills, four block and seven digs. Chesney Tice contributed 15 assists and four digs.
SENIOR CELEBRATION
The six Big Red seniors honored were Anna Taylor, Allen, Reagan Arlesic, Cassidy Wukelic, Jillian Haney and Sydney Meyer.
"I don't look up (at the banners on the wall) and see just one daughter. I have six, and I've coached them for six years," an emotional coach Taylor said. "When you're with girls for seven months out of the year for six years straight, they're your kids. I'm hard on them like I am on my own, and I love them like I love my own. They're my girls."
OVAC IMPLICATIONS
Thursday was the cutoff date to qualify for the upcoming OVAC tournament. Big Red entered the match seventh in Class 5A, while Weir High was 10th in Class 4A. Most likely, both teams will not make the tournament.
UP NEXT
Weir High: Travels to Tyler Consolidated on Tuesday for a quad match.
Steubenville: Hosts Claymont on Thursday in an add-in game.