KETTERING – Versailles, in their Orange-and-Black, overcame a determined Orange and Black West Liberty-Salem Lady Tigers team and its own inconsistent play to win 25-20, 25-22, 25-13 in an OHSAA Division V regional volleyball semifinal at Trent Arena.
The Lady Tigers matchup ended with Versailles advancing to Saturday’s regional championship match, but veteran coach Liz McNeilan saw room for improvement.
“Win and move on,” McNeilan said. “I felt like we started slow. I know the scoreboard said something different. I just felt like we weren’t gelling. We didn’t click. We didn’t keep our tempo tonight.”
Versailles found a more consistent rhythm late in the match, closing the third set with a decisive surge to complete the sweep.
“They did their job,” McNeilan said.
Versailles opened the first set with an 8-4 lead before West Liberty-Salem rallied to tie it at 12. Versailles responded by building a 20-15 advantage and finished with a 25-20 victory.
The second set provided the night’s closest battle.
Versailles jumped ahead 6-1 and led 11-5, but West Liberty-Salem worked its way back into contention. A tie at 17 prompted a timeout from the Versailles bench, and West Liberty-Salem took its first lead of the set at 19-18.
The teams traded points through ties at 19, 20, 21 and 22 before Versailles scored the final three points to take a two-set lead.
McNeilan credited her players’ determination and willingness to work together through a stretch when their execution fell short of their expectations.
“We’re going to do this, we’re going to do it together, whatever it takes,” she said. “Little by little, have everybody’s back and do the little things to get us to that next point, win one point at a time. They focused on that, and they were able to come away with it.”
Libero Sophie Stammen supplied one of the second set’s key plays, sliding into the middle of the court to keep a soft West Liberty-Salem attack alive. Versailles went on to win the point.
“She continues to make the good reads,” McNeilan said. “She continues to make plays, and those are momentum plays.”
McNeilan said defensive efforts such as Stammen’s save can lift the entire lineup, giving the front row an opportunity to attack aggressively and build momentum.
Versailles also created opportunities through its serving, forcing overpasses that put its front row in position to finish points. McNeilan praised her players’ readiness while saying she wanted them to take greater advantage of those chances.
“They know that we have a serving strategy, so our front row is typically ready to go, and I applaud them on that,” she said.
Serving errors, however, helped West Liberty-Salem remain within reach. McNeilan said adjusting to the arena’s depth perception can be a challenge, particularly in a team’s first match there.
“We just had way too many errors,” she said. “That’s very uncommon for us.”
Versailles began the third set with a 4-2 lead, but West Liberty-Salem stayed close, trailing 10-9 before Versailles pulled away.
Versailles extended its advantage to 19-12, prompting a West Liberty-Salem timeout, then pushed the margin to 22-12 before closing out the match 25-13.
Freshman Reagan Raterman added two consecutive aces in the third set. McNeilan praised the freshman’s composure as the stakes keep rising in tournament play.
“She’s got the grit,” McNeilan said. “For her to remain steady and for her to do her job … she doesn’t look like a freshman out there.”
Despite the sweep, McNeilan emphasized the need to limit mistakes and make opponents work for their points.
“You’ve got to make that team earn it,” she said. “You’ve got to make them earn it. And I don’t feel like we did a good job of that tonight.”
McNeilan said Versailles’ demanding schedule, including Midwest Athletic Conference competition, has helped prepare the team for the postseason. She credited her players for continuing to put in the work and maintaining their expectations of one another.
Asked what returning to the regional final meant to the group, McNeilan answered with one word.
“Hungry.”
“They hold each other to a standard,” she said. “The focus was still there. The drive was still there. They wanted to make it to Saturday.”
The Versailles Lady Tigers travel back to Trent Arena for a Saturday, November 7th regional championship game against Cincinnati’s Madeira Lady Amazons, 3-0 winners over the Arcanum Lady Trojans, with a 2 p.m. start time.
