The Valley Lumberjills jumped out to a nice lead against Clay-Battelle, but the Cee-Bees fought back to win the first match 19-25 Sept. 8 in Blacksville.

After the opening loss, Valley regained control and evened the match with a 25-17 victory in set two. The ‘Jills won a close contest, 25-22, in the third set and wrapped up the victory with a 25-23 decision in the fourth and final set.

Rachel Ice led the ‘Jill charge, scoring 24 points, including three service aces. She also had 30 sets, eight digs, and blasted one kill. Leah Morris was next in the scoring column with 15 points, including four coming by way of serves. She also had a pair of digs and chipped in with two kills.

Carla Mason and Tiffany Hayes each tallied 14 points and combined for five service aces, three kills, two blocks, and two digs. Ashley Staley and Kristen Wolfe added 13 and 12 points, respectively, while sharing 18 sets, 10 spikes, and six digs. Ally Ashcraft scored eight points off the bench, including an ace, and added five sets for the red hot Lumberjills.

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Valley jumped out to a nice lead against the Lady Dragons Sept. 21 to win the first matches 25-23 and 26-24, but fell 20-25 in the third set before wrapping up the victory with a 25-21 decision in the fourth and final set.

Ice led the ‘Jill charge, scoring 15 points, including three service aces. She also had 36 sets, eight digs, and blasted one kill. Leah Morris scored 19 points, including four coming by way of serves. She also had a pair of digs and chipped in with 16 spikes.

Cassie Ueltschy scored 21 points to lead all-scorers, while Hayes added 13 points. Ashley Staley contributed eight points and Ally Ashcraft scored three.

The following day, the ‘Jills dominated Bishop Donahue in the first match, 25-18; lost the second set, 25-27; and won the third and fourth sets, 25-16 and 27-25, to win the home match.

Ice, Morris, and Ueltschy each recorded 19 points to lead the Valley Lumberjills, while Hayes contributed 18 markers. Staley netted 15 points and Wolfe contributed 13 points. Ice had 47 sets, while Wolfe led the way with 14 kills.

The ‘Jills visited Tyler Consolidated on Sept. 23 and lost in straight sets, 17-25, 14-25, and 10-25.

Ice led the way again with eight points and 30 sets, while Wolfe and Hayes added six kills. Morris, Staley, and Carla Mason each contributed five markers, while Ueltschy pocketed three points. Morris added 16 spikes and had four blocks.

In a barn-burner against St. Marys Sept. 24, the homestanding ‘Jills took match one, 25-14, as Wolfe led the way with seven points, one service ace, two digs, and added three kills. Morris followed with six points, two of which came by way of serves and had three spikes. Ice came up with four points, Mason and Hayes three each and Staley two markers.

In the second set, the Blue Devils nipped the Lumberjills 19-25, as Mason and Hayes led the ‘Jill charge with five points each. Staley and Morris each contributed three markers, while Ice and Wolfe had two and one point, respectively. Ice had eight sets in the loss, while the trio of Wolfe, Morris, and Mason landed 10 spikes. Wolfe, who tried to keep the Devils at bay, had five digs and Ice contributed two.

The third and fourth set went into overtime with Valley winning both, 26-24 and 28-26, to win the match. Morris was on her game, scoring five in the third set and eight in the finale to jump-start the ‘Jills in the victory.

Hayes and Mason teamed for 16 points in the final two sets, while Ice and Wolfe garnered 17 points.

In the set department, Ice led the way with 25, while Hayes and Morris combined for 21 spikes.

At 5:30 p.m. today, the Lumberjills will look to reverse their last defeat against Tyler Consolidated in their next to last home match.