CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio - With a two-week break before conference play on the horizon, the Midway women's volleyball will head into its sabbatical with positive momentum after handling a former River States foe Tuesday night.
Aubry Koester and Emily Slaughter continued their recent hot streak with 18 and 15 kills respectively, freshman Blair Riney had the most digs recorded by any Midway player this season, and the Eagles overcame a poor finish in the second set, rallying for a 25-17, 25-27, 25-18, 25-20 road win over Ohio Christian Tuesday.
After cruising to an eight-point win in the opener, the Eagles needed just one point to take a two-set lead after an Alyssa Medeiros kill gave them a 24-22 lead.
But the Trailblazers would fight off consecutive set points and eventually pull even with a 5-1 run capped by a Midway attack error.
OCU attempted to seize control and even jumped out to a 14-10 lead in set three before a Medeiros kill and Anju Sugiya ace turned things in the Eagles' favor.
Down 16-15, another ace, this one by Jessica Florence, kick-started what became a 10-2 run that put Midway one set from victory.
The teams followed a similar script in set four. Down 12-10, back-to-back kills by Nyla Gaines and Slaughter provided the first two points of a 6-0 surge, as the lead wouldn't change hands again.
Tuesday marked Midway's seventh-consecutive win over Ohio Christian, which left the River States Conference at the end of the 2023-24 school year.
Koester and Slaughter have both recorded double-digit kills in six of seven matches this year. Both players reached double figures in digs (Slaughter 15, Koester 11) Tuesday as well.
They weren't the only ones to stuff the stat sheet. Meghan Adams (11) and Medeiros (10) also had double-digit kills, the group being set up nicely all night by Marinna Liedle and Paige Miles, who each had 23 assists.
Five players also had double-digit digs, with Riney recording 23, more than any other Midway player on the season. The Eagles' 85 digs as a team were also a season-high.
Now at 5-2, Midway won't take the court again for two weeks, when it opens both the conference and home portion of its schedule with a 7 p.m. matchup against Oakland City on Sept. 17.
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