Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

 

The Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers believe in giving the fans their money’s worth.

For the fifth straight volleyball game, Ironton went five sets and this time edged the Chesapeake Lady Panthers in an Ohio Valley Conference match.

“Chesapeake definitely kept us on the defensive end a lot tonight,” said Ironton coach Beth Campbell. “We have been practicing and focusing on eliminated the area we leave exposed. The girls were locked in and focused.”

Chesapeake won the first set 25-21 and then Ironton won 25-19 and 25-22. The Lady Panthers answered by winning 25-22 to tie the game but Ironton won the tough tiebreaker 19-17.

Ironton’s Peighton Rowe led all scorers with 15 points, Riley Schreck had 14 and Lexi Wise 13 with four aces. McKenzie Cremeens had seven points, Ali White and Samantha LaFon five each with White assisting on four aces.

Offensively, Wise had 17 kills and LaFon 10. Mary Beth Burton had seven kills and M’Kenzie McMaster four.

White had 41 setting assists.

Defensively, McMaster racked up 12 blocks, Burton seven and Cremeens had seven blocking assists.

Wise had 25 digs, Cremeens 18 and Schreck 13.

Chesapeake was led by Rachel Pratt with 14 points. Sydney Wellman, Natalee Hall, Corinne Ferguson and Brooke Webb eight points each while Karli Davis had seven.

“We have room for improvement. You can’t work on the basics enough,” said Campbell. “We were happy to get out of there with a win. Chesapeake is a tough place to play and get the win. Their coach Rebecca Cremeans always has her team prepared. She coaches them tough.”

Ironton hosts first-place and unbeaten Gallipolis at 5:30 p.m. Thursday.