GREENVILLE — Greenville used strong serving and improved play at the net to sweep visiting Xenia 25-21, 25-17, 25-9 in Miami Valley League volleyball action Tuesday night.
The Lady Wave celebrated community service night with a Christmas-themed crowd and a conference victory as the regular season entered its final stretch.
“It was a good win tonight,” Greenville coach Michelle Hardesty said. “Having a nice crowd here, Christmas theme, doing our community service night. It was fun.”
Greenville jumped to a 7-1 lead in the opening set and extended the advantage to 11-4, prompting a Xenia timeout. The Lady Buccaneers rallied to within one point before Greenville scored the final three points to secure a 25-21 win.
The Lady Wave opened the second set with five unanswered points and built a 12-5 advantage. Greenville pushed its lead to double digits at 23-13 before closing out a 25-17 victory.
“Yes, it was a little shaky at first, but then they brought it all back together, and we were finishing at the net a little better, and serves were on target,” Hardesty said. “I think we had a team high of aces tonight, and Megan does a great job saving every ball that she can, and Avery makes it look easy.”
Xenia took its only lead of the night at 3-2 in the third set. Greenville responded with six straight points to move ahead 8-3 and force another timeout.
The Lady Wave continued their surge, stretching the lead to 13-3. Hardesty turned to her bench as Greenville finished off the sweep with a 25-9 victory.
Senior captain Megan Loudy credited the team’s ability to maintain its intensity and respond after losing a point.
“When we got our lead, we stayed. We didn’t back down,” Loudy said. “We didn’t have a bad side out. Every time we lost the point, we just get it right back, and we just all played really well together.”
Loudy also discussed her communication with an official after a disputed play resulted in a replay.
“I just try my best to communicate well, and I really felt like that should have been our ball because it was a block tip, and as soon as I told the official that, he replayed it immediately,” she said. “So, it’s good that they communicate with us and know that we’re trying to help them just as they’re trying to help us.”
Senior Avery Shipp said playing alongside longtime teammates has helped make the season enjoyable.
“It’s very fun playing with people that we’ve played with for a long time, mostly being seniors,” Shipp said.
That familiarity has also helped her feel comfortable on the court.
“It’s really fun,” Shipp said. “I think it’s where I can be myself most of the time.”
With tournament time approaching, Hardesty said the Lady Wave remain focused on steady improvement.
“We have a couple of weeks left in the regular season, and this is what we work for, just to get better every match, every point, and see what we can create going forward,” she said. “I look forward to the next couple of weeks and seeing how we finish.”
