EATON — On a night in which Bailey Jerdon recorded her 1,000th career assist for Eaton, the Eagles volleyball team put an end to Preble Shawnee’s 10-match winning streak in a four-set battle on Monday, Sept. 27.
Olivia Baumann and Lily Shepherd pounded home 18 and 16 kills, respectively, mostly on Jerdon’s assists, as the Eagles claimed the match 25-21, 25-19, 17-25, 25-22.
The next night, at Ansonia, Shawnee setter Carlyn George recorded 28 assists and reached the 1,000 career assist milestone in a 25-19, 25-23, 25-19 win.
“Bailey Jerdon did a nice job distributing the ball and I felt like when we needed a big pass and kill, it happened for us,” Eaton coach Parker Fields said. “Our outsides both did a nice job splitting seams. We didn’t get a lot of blocks tonight, but our middles did a nice job of slowing balls down. Lots of credit to Preble Shawnee, they wanted to come in here and beat us, and they played like it. I was impressed with their serving, their middles played well, and their setter did a nice job of mixing it up.”
Shawnee coach Josh Evans was disappointed with the loss, but he felt his team was up to the challenge.
“That was a fight. Great volleyball, both sides,” he said. “We played hard. I wish we would have started out a little bit better. I think it would have been a different game. As I told them in the locker room, this might be that slap in the face that we need to propel us the rest of the way.”
In the first set, the Arrows had leads of 3-1, 6-4, 10-8 and 16-14 before the Eagles grabbed control scoring five straight points for a 19-16 lead.
Shawnee closed to within 21-20 and appeared to tied the set at 21-all but a late touch call gave the point and ball back to Eaton and a 22-20 lead.
In the second set, Eaton fell behind 3-1 against before rallying to take a 7-4 lead. Shawnee closed to 10-9 but the Eagles pushed the lead to as many as seven at 21-14 before closing out the set.
In set three, the Arrows jumped out to another fast start with a 5-0 lead and never trailed.
In the fourth set, Eaton raced out to a 7-2 lead and was up 13-7 before the Arrows began chipping away. Shawnee closed the gap to 16-14 before the Eagles regained momentum and went up 21-15.
For Shawnee, Cora Neihoff had 14 kills. Harlee Howard added 11 kills, while Kahlen Kulm and Liv Thompson added eight and six kills respectively. George finished the match with 31 assists.
For Eaton, Jenna Ditmer and Ellie Wilson contributed eight and seven kills from the middle position. Jerdon had 46 assists, including her 1,000th to Ditmer early in the second set.
Eaton finished off a big week with a a 17-25, 25-21, 25-22, 25-17 win at Monroe on Tuesday and swept Valley View 25-21, 25-18, 25-14 to move into sole possession of the Southwestern Buckeye League West Division.
The Eagles, now 12-3 overall and 8-1 in the SWBL, was scheduled to host Tippecanoe on Monday, Oct. 4 and Oakwood on Tuesday. They are set to visit Carlisle on Thursday and host Wyoming on Saturday.
Shawnee kept its Western Ohio Athletic Conference title hopes alive with wins over Ansonia and Newton.
The Arrows beat Newton 25-11, 25-17, 25-19 to remain unbeaten in WOAC play.
Shawnee, now 14-3 overall and 9-0 in the WOAC, was scheduled to play Talawanda on Monday and Mississinawa Valley on Tuesday.
They are to visit Tri-Village, who is also unbeaten in the WOAC, on Thursday.
