On Saturday, the Wildcats participated in the OVAC volleyball tournament after earning a No. 3 seed and a date with the Bellaire St. Johns Fighting Irish.

After a close first game which ended in favor of Paden City 25-23, the Wildcats would close out the Irish in the second set 25-15 with the best-of-three match.

The front row was particularly strong for the Lady ‘Cats as once again they had three girls in double figures despite only two games being played. Amanda Tallman led the team with 13 kills, with Alli Bertozzi with 12 and Kim Davis with 11. Amy Toman added four.

Amber Palmer and Shauna Durant were there once again when the ‘Cats needed them in the back row with eight and six digs.

The win set them up in a rematch with the Beallsville Blue Devils, who earned a No. 1 seed. The ‘Cats once again played a close match with the Monroe County school, but fell just short, losing 11-25, 25-20, 25-20.

Tallman served 15 points while Palmer had 10 along with 10 digs. Bertozzi had 16 kills. Amanda Sellers was strong setting with 40 and getting 30 assists.

Even with the two losses, they fought hard against quality team that will prepare the Wildcats for post-season action. Their overall record stands at an impressive 18-6. In three of those losses, the ‘Cats came back to beat that team.

Plus, finishing second in such a big conference such as the OVAC usually is a good thing to build upon in preparation for sectionals.

When any team puts together a winning streak, the target on its back just gets bigger and bigger.

On Thursday, another team reached that target as the Lady Blue Devils of Beallsville ousted the Wildcats 3-1.

It wouldn’t be easy for the Devils to win as the Wildcats gave them everything they had. As a result, the first three games were decided by three points or less, with Paden City winning their set in extra points.

Beallsville took the first set 25-22 and the third 25-23. The Lady ‘Cats would get the best of the Devils 28-26 in the second. Though the Blue Devil’s strong game in the fourth set successfully ended the streak 25-14.

Dominique Craft and Tallman each served 12 points for the ‘Cats. Bertozzi killed 23 balls. Toman and Davis each added eight in the losing cause. Durant and Palmer each added seven digs as they were a couple of defensive leaders for Paden City. Sellers set up the team 105 times with 40 assists.

While the loss ended their winning streak, they did get another victory posted a couple of days earlier as they battled the Cee-Bees at Clay-Battelle.

In this game, it was all-Wildcats, all the time as they took it to their hosts, sweeping them 25-6, 25-16, 25-13 in Mason-Dixon Conference action.

Bertozzi, Palmer, and Tallman all scored in double figures for points with 19, 12 and 11 respectively. All of those players had at least two aces as well.

Bertozzi also led the team in kills, but she was aided by Davis with six, Tallman and Toman with three, and Palmer and Bethany Arnett with two. Craft also was strong serving with four aces. Amanda Heasley got in the scoring column with two aces.

The Paden City Lady Wildcats swept past the home-standing Lady Cee-Bees of Clay-Battelle in high school volleyball action Oct 7.

The Lady ‘Cats captured the first match by the score of 25-17 and then wrapped up the match with 25-16 and 25-13 wins in the next two sets to win their 15th straight match and increase their stellar season to 17-4 right before the OVAC Championships.

Alli Bertozzi and Amber Palmer paced the Lady ‘Cats on the night with 19 and 12 points, respectively. Bertozzi also added a game-high 15 kills and chipped in with four digs. Palmer added two kills and five digs to go along with her two scoring aces.

Amanda Tallman had a nice all-around game for the ‘Cats. She scored 12 points, two of which were scoring aces, and added three kills and four digs. Dominique Craft knocked in six points, including four service aces and added two digs. Amy Toman and Kim Davis combined for 10 kills, while Shauna Durant added five digs. Bethany Arnett came off the bench to slam a pair of kills, while Amanda Sellers was her usual and steady with 31 assists on 39 passes.

For the remainder of the season, Paden City will face several opponents at home: Clay-Battelle, Oct. 22; Williamstown and Magnolia on Oct. 30; and the Mason-Dixon Conference Championship Nov. 1, before state sectionals are scheduled.