Tanks roll past Cavs, head to SVC play undefeated

• Unioto beat Chillicothe, Saturday morning, 19-25, 25-9, 25-17 and 25-23.
• The Tanks now head to SVC play, Tuesday, undefeated at 3-0.

CHILLICOTHE – After dropping the first set, Saturday morning, Unioto awoke from its slumber to take the next three.

The Tanks (3-0) handed Chillicothe a four-set loss — 19-25, 25-9, 25-17 and 25-23 — to stay undefeated heading into Scioto Valley Conference play.

“We saw a team in Chillicothe that came out and played hard against us,” Unioto coach Aaron Ridenour said. “They had a lot of emotion and didn’t make very many mistakes in that first set. That carried them through. I told out players that they were just learning a lesson in volleyball. They had to just weather the storm because teams will come out strong. It’s volleyball. You just have to bounce back.”

The Cavaliers (1-4) used intensity to go on a 10-0 run in the middle of the first set, building a 19-11 lead en route to the win.

But that was the last time Chillicothe played bully.

Unioto bounced back with a dominant win in the second set after building leads of 12-4, 17-5 and 22-8 — taking advantage of multiple unforced Cavalier’ errors.

“In that second set, we just got into our rhythm,” Ridenour said. “We weren’t getting very many kills in the first. (Chillicothe) was limiting us on offense. In the second set, we started getting those kills and our serving came around a little tougher. It just went from there.”

The Cavaliers bounced back nicely in the third set, even after giving up a 9-0 run and finding themselves down 10-5, early. The Shermans, however, didn’t budge while building leads of 14-9, 17-13 and 21-17.

Facing a 2-1 match deficit, Chillicothe’s back was against the wall, causing the Cavaliers to come out fighting in the fourth set.

Eight ties were seen before Unioto finally created some breathing room by taking a 20-17 advantage. Trailing 23-20, Chillicothe put together a quick 3-1 run to cut the Unioto lead to 24-23 and force Ridenour to call a timeout.

“At that point, we just needed one solid play,” Ridenour said. “It didn’t matter what the score was. One point would win it so I just told the girls to go and be strong.”

That didn’t necessarily need to happen as the ensuing serve hit the net, giving Unioto the victory.

Junior Abbey Winegardner led the Shermans with 11 kills and 13 digs. Kassidey Winegardner finished with seven kills, three aces and 14 digs. Sophomore setter Madi Eberst had yet another strong outing with 19 digs and 33 assists.

Unioto will hit the court again, Tuesday, as it travels to Zane Trace.

“We just want to come out and play every game our best,” Ridenour said. “We’ll let our record fall where it does. We know it just keeps getting tougher. We’ve got two tough league matches right from the get go.”

Chillicothe will play again Monday, hosting Logan Elm, before heading back into conference play, Tuesday at McClain.

dwebb@chillicothegazette.com

Twitter: @dw1509