But then came games three and four, which the Blue Angels dominated for a 3-1 victory over the Purple & White in Jim Myers Gymnasium. Volleyball is a game of streaks, and the Blue Angels certainly had their fair share in a 26-24, 19-25, 25-12, 25-12 success over the Lady Chiefs.
Gallipolis (5-6, 2-1 SEOAL) rallied from an early 10-4 hole and a late 24-23 deficit to win game one before the Lady Chiefs (2-6, 1-2) rode a streak of their own, an eight-point service streak by Tori Eveland, to victory in game two.
However, games three and four were too much Maggie Westfall, Kassie Shriver and Heather Ward from the service line and too much Haley Rosier, Rachel Morris and Westfall at the net for the Purple & White to overcome.
The Lady Chiefs started out on a roll, with Abbie Hughes scoring five service points during a 6-0 run that put the Purple & White ahead 6-1. Logan extended that lead to 10-4 before Morris got the Blue Angels back in the game with four-straight service points of her own, aided by kills from Morris, Westfall and Molly Smith.
Gallipolis went ahead 19-15 before the Purple & White scored nine of the next 13 to points to reach the precipice of winning the match, taking a 24-23 lead on a solid spike kill by Ashley McCort.
But the Blue Angels got a sweet cross-court spike kill from Smith to knot the game, then a spike kill by Riley Nibert and a block kill by Rosier finished off the GAHS victory.
And when Shriver served the first seven points of game two, momentum was clearly on the side of the Blue Angels.
Gallipolis extended its game-two lead to 11-3 before Devon Shaw served three points (two aces) to begin righting the Logan ship. Logan pulled within 15-9 before a Mackenzie Mays kill regained serve for the Lady Chiefs and Eveland went on her service tear to take Logan from a six-point deficit to an 18-15 lead.
Gallipolis, which has won two of the last four SEOAL championships, had some uncharacteristic problems receiving Eveland's serves. Six of Eveland's serves never came back over the net, including a pair of Eveland aces.
Logan never trailed again in game two. The Lady Chiefs led 20-18 before regaining serve on a Gallia unforced error and got a spike kill from McCort and a pair of Shaw aces to pull within game point at 24-18. After a Nibert spike kill, the Lady Chiefs finished off the game with a McCort spike kill of her own.
The Lady Chiefs couldn't contain the momentum, however. Gallipolis got off to a 7-2 start in game three and never looked back, with Westfall serving three-straight points and making a couple kills as the Blue Angels extended their lead to 14-7.
Logan got back in the game briefly, pulling within 14-11 on three Mays service points and a McCort kill, but the Blue Angels scored 11 of the game's last 12 points to win going away.
Shriver served three-straight points, including an ace, then Ward served out the game's final six points with an ace, a Shriver kill, and a spike kill and a game-finishing block kill by Westfall.
Game four was more of the same. After Logan grabbed a quick 4-2 lead, Gallipolis went on a game-breaking 12-0 run, getting 11-straight service points from the sophomore Westfall, four kills at the net by Rosier and a kill by Morris. Logan never got any closer than nine points the rest of the way.
Westfall finished with 13 service points (three aces) and 12 kills for the winners. Shriver, also a sophomore, served a game-high 19 points (seven aces), with Ward adding 11 points (two aces), Morris seven (three aces) and Rosier four. Rosier added 11 kills, Morris and Smith five apiece, and Brenna West four.
Both Shaw (five aces) and Eveland (four aces) had 10 service points for the Lady Chiefs, with Hughes (four aces) contributing eight, Mackenzie Dicken five, Mays three and Niki Stimmel one. McCort had 11 kills at the net, with Mays chipping in nine and Dicken six.
Craig Dunn is the sports editor of the Logan Daily News in Logan, Ohio.
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