UPDATED with Blufffton stats

By Cort Reynolds

MILLER CITY __ The Bluffton High School volleyball team took down Sherwood Fairview in straight sets in district semifinal tournament play Tuesday night at Miller City.

The Pirates swept the Apaches 25-23, 25-11, 25-15 to improve their record to 20-3.

The Pirates advance to the district finals Thursday, Oct. 24 in Miller City at 6 p.m. vs. second-seeded Ottawa-Glandorf (17-7). 

“Fairview is a very solid team,” said Pirate coach Kevin King. “We started off a little slow, and then got going well at the end of set one to regain the lead. We continued (the momentum) into set two. 

“We had some strong serving to keep Fairview out of their offense, as well as some key blocks to slow their offensive threats,” King continued. “Key serving from Kendall Stackhouse at the end of set one really got us on the right track to spark the team. 

“Once we gained control of momentum, we were able to run our offense that has been a key to our success,” he added.

Sherwood Fairview ended its season 18-6 after the loss.

Kendall Stackhouse hammered 11 kills to pace the Pirate hitting attack.

Karlie Lora knocked down nine kills. The versatile Lora also came up with nine digs, three blocks and served two aces.

Senior Ayla Grandey, Libby Hocanson and Lainey Grandey each added three kills.

Senior setter Gracie Yarnell passed out 23 assists. She also hit two kills, had a block assist and came up with four digs.

Senior Avery Talavinia mustered a team-high 16 digs. Lainey Grandey added nine digs. Stackhouse dealt a pair of aces and added a block. Hocanson added a pair of block assists.

Vanessa Cross contributed nine digs.

Bluffton hit more kills than SF,32-20. The Pirate attack pct. was 27.6 compared to 18.7 by the Apaches.

Junior Payshince McDaniel led Fairview with 11 kills. Apache teammate Abby Smith totaled three blocks. Aubrey Hammer and Liberty Vogelsong came up with 19 digs apiece, while Kenna Kauffman dished out 13 assists.

Top seed Bluffton received a first round bye.

The third-seeded Apaches crushed seventh seed Fostoria 25-10, 25-12, 25-6 in their first round match. 

Bluffton was ranked ninth and Fairview 27th in the MaxPreps Div. V state poll.

Fairview finished second in the Green Meadows Conference at 6-1, behind only undefeated league champion Defiance Tinora (22-0, 7-0 GMC). 

State-ranked Tinora edged Bluffton 25-18, 25-27, 25-15 on Sept. 14 to snap the Pirate 10-match win streak. Tinora is ranked fifth in Ohio in Div. VI.

Western Buckeye League champion O-G was seeded second in the lower half of the draw. 

The Titan girls swept Paulding (11-13) Tuesday night 25-16, 25-9, 25-19 to advance to the Miller City district finals. OG previously swept sixth seed Elmwood in their first round match Oct. 17.

O-G is ranked fifth in the state Div. V poll.