Burns Blasts Adena Volleyball Into Elite 8
Article Presented By Accurate Heating, Cooling & Plumbing…
(UPDATED 10/31) – Adena’s senior middle hitter and SVC “Player of the Year” Katie Burns had a career night at the net Thursday, hammering a new school record (43 kills) in the Warriors’ Division 5 Regional Semifinal victory over the (19-7) Union Local Jets at Logan High School. Burns also added 11 digs and 2 serving aces for good measure.
Burns’ effort snapped an almost 10 year old record of 36 kills in a match, set by Devon Putnam.
Set 1 was close throughout with Adena holding the biggest advantage at 15-11. The Jets powered their way back into the match thanks to 6’1 junior attacker Ameera Saunders, who lifted UL into a lead as late as 23-22 over Adena. That’s when the Warriors closed on a 4-1 run for the opening 26-24 win and a (1-0) lead in the match.
Set 2 saw the Warriors break away from a 9-9 tie with a 10-4 run for a 19-13 lead. Union Local managed to pull to within 21-17, before Adena closed with a 25-17 victory and a match (2-0) advantage.
The Jets stayed alive with a 25-22 Set 3 win as they rallied from a 16-12 deficit and blew past the Warriors 22-21 lead- for the win.
Adena trailed 4-1 out of the gate in Set 4, taking a brief 10-8 lead, only to see the Jets answer for a 10-10 tie. That is when the Warriors started to pull away with another scoring run of 10-2 for a 20-12 advantage, then closed on a 5-4 pace for the 25-16 match victory.
Aside from Burns’ big night, Adena also saw production from 5’8 sophomore Jacey Jones with 13 kills. Senior outside Jacey Smith placed 5 key kills in the match to go with her team-high 25 digs and 2 aces. Peytyn Lemaster added 2 kills, while Adyson Wisecup and Allie Bossert each had 1 kill. Other defensive stars for the Warriors included junior libero and SVC “Co-Defensive Player of the Year” Kimmy Dalton with 22 digs, after last week collecting her 1,000th career dig.
Kortney Sowers had a big night on defense with 19 digs and 2 serving aces, while also setting their 6-2 offense, along with setter Allie Bossert, who had 10 digs. The Warriors served 6 aces for the night.
Union Local was led by 6’1 junior powerhouse Ameera Saunders’ 28 kills, followed by Laken Vinskovich with 17 kills. Alli Kellaway added 5, Myah Martin 4, and Delaney Butler with 3 kills.
(25-1) Adena now advances to play (24-2) New Lexington for the D-5 Regional Championship at 5pm Saturday at Logan High School. (24-2) New Lexington advanced to the finals with a (25-22, 25-20, 22-25, 25-20 victory over defending regional runner-up (22-4) Wheelersburg. The Warriors defeated the Panthers in the district final last season.
