BLACKSVILLE — Clay-Battelle volleyball team is the 2022 Mason-Dixon Conference champions after winning the tournament in a five-set thriller against South Harrison on Thursday night at C-B.
The first set dictated the tone for the rest of match as C-B trailed 8-3 early on to the Hawks. Coach Matthew Wood’s team battled back however, and would eventually take the first set 25-23.
SHHS once again jumped out to an early lead in the second set, gaining advantage at 7-3 before the Cee-Bees found momentum again. Another storm of points from C-B saw the score cut to just one point at 11-10, but the Hawks didn’t let up this time, and took the second set 25-20, tying the match at one set a piece.
The crucial third set looked like a completely different match from the first two sets, as C-B jumped out to a 6-0 lead, forcing a timeout from SHHS. It didn’t do much good, though, as the Cee-Bees dominated the entire third set and took a 2-1 set advantage by a game score of 25-5.
Finally a set opened evenly in the fourth, with the score tied at 6 early in the potential match-decider. The score remained close throughout (7-6, then 16-13, then 20-17) with the Hawks keeping the slight lead. That lead was one they wouldn’t surrender, taking the fourth set 25-19 and once again, evening the match.
The fifth set (first to 15) saw the hosts coming out of the break strong. C-B earned four of the first five points in the final set, and carried that lead all the way until the end. That 3-1 deficit was the closest SHHS was to C-B the entire fifth set.
With a 3-2 victory over SHHS, the Cee-Bees are the conference champions and will look to continue their winning ways into sectional play next week.
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