BROOKVILLE – The West Libert-Salem Lady Tigers defeated the Arcanum Lady Trojans 3-1 in OHSAA DIII Wednesday night volleyball tournament play.

“We came out a little slow tonight,” said Arcanum coach, Macey O’Dell. “West Liberty-Salem is a very tough team – they are very strong.”

The Lady Tigers took an opening set 3-1 lead with Arcanum knotting the score at 3-3. The game would see ties at 4-4, 5-5, 6-6 and 7-7 before WL-S would take a 13-10 advantage.

The Lady Trojans evened the score at 13-13, 14-14, 15-15 and 16-16 only to have West Liberty-Salem get its 3 point lead back at 19-16 bringing a timeout from the Arcanum bench.

The Lady Trojans made it a 20-18 set to trail by 2 but it was the Lady Tigers taking advantage of a 5-0 run to close out first set play and score a 25-18 victory and lead 1-0.

Set No. 2 went to Arcanum 25-23 but not before the game would see 16 ties and 6 lead changes. The Lady Trojans largest leads in the set would prove to be 2 points (4 times) including the final coming with the 2 point 25-23 win while the Lady Tigers largest lead at 3 points came early in the set at 9-6.

“We battled back that second set,” Coach O’Dell stated. “I was very proud of the team for coming back and getting that win on the second set.”

The third set of the night had Arcanum battling back from a 4-0 deficit to open play and move out to a 15-10 advantage over WL-S.

The Lady Tigers stormed back with a 6-0 run to lead 16-15 with the Lady Trojans calling a timeout. Arcanum got even at 17-17 but could not grab a lead in losing 25-23 and fall to 1-2 on the night.

The fourth set had the teams tied at 1-1 before the Lady Tigers exploded with 13 unanswered points to lead 14-1 and never look back.

Although a Lady Tigers lead too much for Arcanum to overcome, the Lady Trojans got back on track to outscore West Lberty-Salem 13-11 for a final 25-14 score with the WL-S Lady Tigers moving on in tournament play.

“That is one thing we struggled with all year – consistancy and let teams go on runs on us,” said O’Dell. “We got down 14 at one point. You just can’t get down that much and expect to comeout with the win.”

Arcanum Trojans’ Taylor Gray drills a spike in OHSAA tournament play at Brookville.

https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_Taylor-Gray-b-1.jpgArcanum Trojans’ Taylor Gray drills a spike in OHSAA tournament play at Brookville.

Ellie Fout launches a set for the Lady Trojans in OHSAA DIII tournament action.

https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_Ellie-Fout-1.jpgEllie Fout launches a set for the Lady Trojans in OHSAA DIII tournament action.

Arcanum’s Hannah Smith goes up for a spike in Lady Trojans tournament play.

https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_Hannah-Smith-1-2.jpgArcanum’s Hannah Smith goes up for a spike in Lady Trojans tournament play.

Maddy Byrne goes strong to the net for the Lady Trojans in tournament action at Brookville.

https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_Maddy-Byrne-1-2.jpgMaddy Byrne goes strong to the net for the Lady Trojans in tournament action at Brookville.

Mollie Ericksen nails a spike for Arcanum in the Lady Trojans Wednesday night tournament match.

https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_Mollie-Ericksen-1.jpgMollie Ericksen nails a spike for Arcanum in the Lady Trojans Wednesday night tournament match.

Taylor Gray slams a kill for the Arcanum in the Lady Trojans tournament match with West Liberty-Salem.

https://www.dailyadvocate.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/web1_Taylor-Gray-a-1.jpgTaylor Gray slams a kill for the Arcanum in the Lady Trojans tournament match with West Liberty-Salem. Gaylen Blosser | Darke County Media