Nelson sparks Tyrone win
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TYRONE -- While the second set of Thursday night's District 6 Cass 2A girls volleyball first-round match between No. 7 Tyrone and No. 10 Bellwood-Antis played out, it appeared like the Lady Blue Devils had established the rhythm they needed to advance.
While the Lady Golden Eagles dropped set two, it was a string of four straight kills from one of their juniors that helped turn the match around for good.
Kylee Nelson had an strong night racking up 15 service points with 19 kills, 17 digs, two aces and a block to lead Tyrone to the 3-1 triumph in a playoff edition of the backyard brawl, 25-17, 21-25, 25-17, 25-17 at the Tyrone Middle School Gym.
"I just noticed that I had a small blocker in front of me, and I was hitting line a lot," Nelson said. The energy from my team also got me going because I was getting chest bumps and pushes."
Tyrone coach Alesha Weaver couldn't be more impressed with how well Nelson understands the game.
"Kylee is a fantastic ballplayer," she said. "Her volleyball IQ is like no other. She is such a leader no matter what role you put her in on the floor. When she does well and she creates that energy, her teammates feed off of that. Even when she struggles, she continues to build her teammates up and be that positive role model for every single person."
B-A coach Sophia Damiano knew how good Nelson was.
"We knew that if we were giving her the ball or if she was getting the ball, she was going to put us in trouble," Damiano said. "We were trying our best to keep the ball away from her, but when you have a player that is that good, it's practically impossible."
This was a closer match than the regular season, which the Lady Eagles won in straight sets.
"They adjusted well to what our offense and defense was against them the first time," Weaver said. "We made a lot of serving errors in the second set, but our main focus is always our serve and pass game. I told the girls in between sets two and three, 'Ok, they took one set from us, but we can still compete, we can still take them in four.'"
Damiano credited a change in her team's alignment for tying the match.
"I did switch the lineup a little bit with having Avah Hassler as my setter in the front row instead setting from the back row," she said. "Having Avah up at the net really helped us in that second set. She was able to attack balls, dump, tip, all of those things."
Tyrone got off to a quick start in the first set as Sarah Zimmerman racked up two of her three aces to help her squad take a 10-4 lead. She recorded 20 service points and 13 digs.
Bellwood closed that deficit for a bit as Hassler and Ava Patton came up with a pair of finishes to help spark a brief 5-1 run. Hassler finished with 19 assists.
Rylan Crowell and Taylan McGlynn finished off the set, giving the Lady Eagles the early advantage. Crowell had 15 service points and 19 digs.
Both sides went back-and-forth to start set two, but the Lady Devils did get separation. They had a 10-5 run powered by four kills from Johanna Heckman.
Following Nelson's four consecutive finishes, Addy Turek and Jesse Corrado helped put the second set away with a pair of kills of their own to take set two. Corrado finished with 43 digs.
In the third set, Tyrone wasted no time taking control as Maddy Rockwell registered a pair of kills along with Nelson as part of a 13-4 outburst.
Rockwell finished with 22 service points, 32 assists and a block while Abigail Anthony recorded 25 digs and
The loss brings the end of the line for a Bellwood-Antis team which is saying goodbye to three seniors who helped the program make the transition to Damiano in her first full season at the helm.
"They work really hard, they're great role models," Damiano said. "They've really led us in (the transition to) the Laurel Highlands (Athletic Conference), helping the younger girls. They've really helped them be confident in stepping up to that competition.
"I think at this point we have a good foundation built, and we're going to work with the younger girls to fill those spots and come back better than ever."
Tyrone will now shift its focus to the two seed -- and ninth ranked team in the state -- Forest Hills next Tuesday.
"They're a solid team," Weaver said. "I have coached some of their kids as well. We can compete with them just as well as we compete with anybody else. We're ready to take them on and it's going to be a good match."
SERVICE POINTS
BELLWOOD-ANTIS: Corrado 5, Patton, 5, Hassler 9, Heckman 2, McNelis 2, Myers 1, Gummo 5
TYRONE: Rockwell 22, Crowell 15, Tuskovich 13, Zimmerman 20, Nelson 15, Anthony 10.
Records: Bellwood-Antis (11-8), Tyrone (12-5)
Referees: Mark Dwyer and Ken Streilein. Linesmen: Clark Adelman and Doug Moore.