STEUBENVILLE — The Weir and Catholic Central volleyball teams entered their match Thursday without a victory.

The Red Riders won the first two games before letting the third one slip out of their grasp allowing the Crusaders to get back into the match. Weir, however, was unfazed as the Red Riders responded in Game 4 and secured their first win of the season, 25-23, 25-14, 25-27, 25-10 inside the Mickey Barber Gymnasium.

“It was sloppy,” Weir (1-4-1) head coach Fran Capaldi said. “It definitely wasn’t our best showing. We have the potential to play better. We have to find someone consistent in the lineup to keep us in games. When we are on a high, we have to stay on a high.”

The Crusaders fought off to match points in the third game before rallying to win it and get back into the match. Unfortunately, the Blue and Gold could not keep the momentum going in Game 4.

“That is the best I have seen them play,” first-year Catholic Central (0-5) head coach Kaylynn Cochran said. “We made a change to our rotation. We played last night, and it did not go well. We made adjustment tonight, and we played well. We didn’t play well in the second and fourth sets, but we played well in the first and the third.”

Individually for Weir, Amalia Kirlangitis tallied 31 assists, five digs, three aces and four kills, Ella Kaufman finished with three assists, four digs, nine aces and six kills and Illionna Kirlangitis collected two assists, nine digs, three aces and six kills.

Also, Kaylee Webster contributed three assists, one ace and 11 digs, Gabby Sprouse produced one assist, three digs, two aces and four kills and McKenna Potock chipped in with one ace and four kills. Finally, Zoey Spencer ended up with four aces and five kills.

“I new what to expect,” Cochran said. “I watched them play. Our girls are familiar with theirs. They have played against each other before and in travel ball. They knew who to watch out for. They are a good team.”

The Crusaders are led on court by senior Julia Nurczyk, junior Gianna Lemal along with Sienna Krupp and Tessa Beaulieu.

“Julia is fantastic at the net,” Cochran said. “Gianna is our big blocker.”

The first game was back-and-forth before the Red and Black were able to secure the two-point win to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

“I really didn’t know how the match would go,” Capaldi said. “Catholic Central graduated a good group of seniors. I expected it to be different, but I wasn’t sure how it was going to be on top of us graduating seven seniors.”

The momentum remained on the side of the girls from Hancock County in Game 2.

The visitors raced out to a 12-5 advantage, and Cochran called a timeout with her team trailing, 16-8. The girls in red extended their advantage to 19-10 before winning the game by 11 to take a 2-0 lead in the match.

Trailing 2-0, the girls from Jefferson County came out on a mission as they raced out to a 7-1 lead resulting in Capaldi calling a timeout. The Crusaders remained on fire as their lead grew to 12-3, however, something changed at that point.

Down by nine, the Red Riders were able to switch the momentum to their side as Weir stormed its way back into the game. The victors closed to within 13-11 resulting in Cochran calling a timeout to settle her team down. Weir continued to play well after the break as it ended up taking its first lead of the game at 15-14.

At that point, Catholic Central regrouped, and the hosts built a 19-15 lead, however, the Red Riders rallied to take a 21-20 advantage as Cochran called another timeout.

The Red Riders led by two and were one point away from victory when a serve sailed long giving the Crusaders new life. Weir had another shot at victory up 24-23, but another served sailed out of play evening the score. Catholic Central then found itself with a game point, and another unforced error by Weir – this time hitting the ball into the net – gave the Crusaders the victory by two keeping the girls in white alive in the match.

“We have had some challenges, but we are starting to come together,” Cochran said. “They are getting use to me and how I run my system. We are coming together. We have a young varsity team, and many of these girls have not played at the varsity level before. When you have a new coach and you have new girls, it can be tough.

“We haven’t won yet, but we are getting real close. We are competitive. We are going to keep fighting.”

The Red Riders were able to shake off the bad ending to third game as they came out on fire to start Game 4. Weir led 6-1, then 8-2 and 14-4 when Cochran called a timeout in an effort to turn the tide in her team’s favor.

It didn’t work.

Weir built a 20-5 advantage before winning the game by 15 to win the match, 3-1.

“I told them I knew they were better than that,” Capaldi said asked what made the difference between the last two games of the match. “We should have won it there in the third. We came off of a high. When we make an error, we have to find a way to step up and keep going.”

Catholic Central is scheduled to take on Jefferson County rival Edison Saturday out at the Edison Fieldhouse. The JV match is set to start at 11 a.m.

Weir is scheduled to take on John Marshall and Harrison Central in a tri-match starting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday on Ron “Fritz” Williams Court inside the Carl Hamill Fieldhouse.

“It’s going,” Capaldi said asked how the season is going for her team so far. “We’re looking to build confidence. We have a lot of new younger girls. It is going to take time. The more we play, the more we will come together. Then at the end of the year when wins really count, I think we will be OK.”