Lexington volleyball rebounding from tough loss

LEXINGTON — If nothing else, Lady Lex proved they can come back from a gut punch.

Playing for a share of the Ohio Cardinal Conference volleyball lead on Tuesday, Lexington lost in five games to OCC-unbeaten Orrville, 26-24, 16-25, 25-17, 23-25, 15-13.

“That was a tear-jerker," All-Ohio senior Mackenzie Weaver said. "That was probably the hardest loss I’ve ever had in my high school career because it was for a championship."

Lady Lex desperately wanted to win a league crown to go with the one last won in 2012 and another shared in 2009, and that likely won't happen.

“They’re a little deflated right now," Lexington coach Bobbi Weaver said, also Mackenzie mother. “They’re just tired. I’m tired. I feel like I played five matches.”

Lexington had to play volleyball again just two days after being shook by a tough loss. The team wasn't at its sharpest, but it still took care of Clear Fork 25-18, 25-15, 25-14 Thursday night.

“It was kind of tough because we beat ourselves in the end of the game. We missed a lot of serves. (The Red Riders) played a great match, but not always the best team wins in the fifth match," Mackenzie said. "We played our butts off and we worked really hard to come back from that.

“Tonight we’re a little tired and a little drained, but this gave us confidence going into next week.”

The coach said they will spend part of Friday's practice going through individual meetings where end-of-season goals are re-addressed.

"All the kids played hard. I don’t doubt my kids’ effort ever. They fight, but they make it hard. Why do they make it so hard?" Bobbi said. “I’ve got good kids. They come in and buy in and we’ve just got to get better between our ears, and in big moments we’ve got to be the ones that say enough is enough and go.”

Against Orrville, the youngest Weaver had a historic performance. She recorded an amazing 91 hits with her 52 kills being a state record for most in a match by four, while sophomore Olivia Kearns posted a top-20 performance in state history with 61 assists. Against Clear Fork, Weaver pounded 19 kills and eight digs, while sophomore setter Olivia Kearns handed out 35 assists, four aces and 13 service points. Junior Lauren Slaton added nine kills against the Colts, while senior libero Taylor Stoyko dug up eight balls.

"We came together and worked through it," Stoyko said. "Our practice on Wednesday, we talked about it and fixed it.”

They've rebounded from the loss, but now the chore becomes looking forward to the looming tournament.

“We’re excited. We want to go far and we have big plans and we have good goals," Stoyko said.

rmccurdy@gannett.com

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Twitter: @McMotorsport