ARCANUM – The Ansonia Lady Tigers came out strong and never looked back, sweeping the Tri-Village Lady Patriots 3-0 in the opening round of the OHSAA girls’ volleyball tournament.
“I told the girls all week that we’re going to have to earn every point,” said Ansonia first-year head coach Lexi Custenborder. “We’re going to have to come out and play strong and play our best. We did a great job coming out and starting strong.”
Ansonia entered the tournament as the No. 4 seed with a 12-10 record, while Tri-Village came in as the No. 7 seed at 11-11. Despite losing both regular-season meetings to the Patriots in straight sets, the Lady Tigers flipped the script when it mattered most.
Ansonia opened the night with an 8-1 lead before Tri-Village rallied with six unanswered points to close within one, 8-7. The Lady Tigers responded with an 8-4 run to take control at 16-7 and later closed out the set 25-21.
“Autumn Best is only a sophomore, so she’s still learning,” said Custenborder. “They were blocking her pretty hard in that first set, but she made adjustments and got her kills and blocks.”
The second set saw early ties at 5-5 and 6-6 before Ansonia pulled ahead 10-6 and extended the lead to 15-10. Tri-Village answered with a 6-2 run to close within one at 17-16 and tied the game at 20-20, prompting a timeout from Custenborder. Out of the break, Ansonia regained momentum and edged out a 25-23 win to take a 2-0 match lead.
“I thought we did a pretty good job coming out strong, but we would get down and let them score a few points,” Custenborder said. “Our biggest goal was, if we lose a point—and that’s going to happen—to get that next one back. We finished strong.”
She also praised senior Camryn Winner, noting, “Camryn has been a stud for us in the last half of the season. She’s stepped into her role.”
Ansonia roared out to a 15-3 advantage in the third set, but Tri-Village mounted a fierce comeback, using a 16-6 run to cut the deficit to 21-19. The Lady Tigers regrouped, scoring four straight to close out the set 25-19 and seal the sweep.
“That frustrated me,” admitted Custenborder. “I was getting a little upset with them, but they finished strong. We need to stay high the whole game, can’t let up, and can’t get comfortable.”
Despite the loss, Tri-Village first-year head coach Alaine Kirby expressed pride in her team’s effort and accomplishments.
“It’s definitely not how we wanted to go out,” Kirby said. “It’s hard, especially after we beat them twice this year. My girls—it’s not the team I normally see. Saturday, we were hot and on fire against Fort Recovery. But everyone has their time, and today just wasn’t ours.”
Kirby also reflected on the team’s record-breaking season and her three seniors—No. 2 Heidi Bell, No. 4 Emma Whaley, and No. 9 Camryn Osborn.
“Overall, how can you look back at the season and say something bad about it—you can’t,” she said. “We had so many records broken, and that’s because every single player helped do that. One game doesn’t define us.”
“We have three amazing seniors that I’m going to miss greatly,” Kirby added. “They’ve grown not just as players but as people. Volleyball only takes you so far, but these girls are going to go really far.”
Ansonia advances to face the Fairlawn Lady Jets, who defeated Newton 3-1, on Tuesday, October 21, at Arcanum High School. First serve is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.
