Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

Any win in the tournament is a good win. And this was definitely a good win.
The Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers won a tough battle with the Minford Lady Falcons on Saturday to win the Division III sectional volleyball title.
The game went five sets before Ironton got the win and advanced to the district semifinals on Thursday at Waverly High School located off U.S. 23 onto Ohio 220.
Ironton will play in the second game. The first match has Alexander and Piketon at 6 p.m.
Ironton dropped the first set 25-16 but won the next two 25-17 and 25-18. Minford won a tough 25-21 set to force the tiebreaker and Ironton outlasted the Lady Falcons 15-13.
“The seniors did an excellent job in their last home game performance. You can definitely see how much they have matured and gained so much knowledge of the game,” said Ironton coach Beth Campbell.
“They are doing such a tremendous job in leading their team and their determination on the court.”
D’Laynie Keith and Alyssa Lewis had 14 points each to lead a balanced scoring. Kenzie Cremeens had 13 points, Lexi Wise 12, Zakia Lee seven and Alyssia Rowe added two.
Lee dominated the net with a career-high 18 kills on offense and 10 blocks on defense.
“I couldn’t be more proud of Zakia. She deserved this kind of game. She has worked extremely hard all season and her performance definitely showed this evening. At crunch time, Zakia stepped up and answered the call from her teammate,” said Campbell.
Wise had a career-high with 23 kills. Keith added four and Cremeens three. Cremeens also had six blocks.
“Lexi does a good job of seeing the court,” said Campbell.
Lewis racked up 49 setting assists. Keith had 15 digs with Wise getting eight and Lee six. Alli White and Riley Schreck combined for eight digs while Peighton Rowe, Shay Cox and Emma Blankenship had 10 between them.
“All those kills can go unnoticed without Alyssa Lewis. She does whatever she needs to do to make sure she gets the second touch on the ball. Not all passes are the perfect pass, but somehow she makes it work,” said Campbell.