NONLEAGUE MATCHUP … Pettisville’s Macy Hoylman attacks the net in Thursday’s win over the Locos.
PHOTOS BY RENEA KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
HUSTLE PLAY … Olivia Thompson keeps the play alive for the Locos during Montpelier nonleague match at Pettisville.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
PETTISVILLE (August 28, 2025) – The Pettisville Blackbirds took the Montpelier Locomotives in straight sets in a Buckeye Border Conference nonleague volleyball play Thursday evening.
The first set began with a trio of faults followed by an ace from Pettisville freshman Miriam Richer to put the score at 3-1.
Montpelier then made the first run of the match, scoring five points, including a pair of Pettisville faults, a pair of aces from senior Caroline Dick, and a kill from senior Zoe Uribes to take a 6-3 lead.
The teams traded two-point runs, including an untouched kill by senior Blackbird Becca Strauss – an attack which would become a theme throughout the evening.
Following a short run by Pettisville, the opponents would trade pairs of points, tying at 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13, complete with another untouched kill by Strauss and a tip from Dick.
A pair of errors and a failed block at the net put the Blackbirds up 16-13, when amid two pair of points by Pettisville (one consisting of back-to-back untouched spikes from Strauss), the Locomotives put together three- and four-point runs which saw another tip from Dick and a pair of good blocks at the net, giving them back the lead at 21-20.
Pettisville answered with their own four-point run, including a trio of kills by Strauss, one untouched, putting the score at 24-21.
Montpelier managed one more point before Strauss struck again, this time bringing a fault from Locomotives who hit the ball out trying to return it, giving the set to Pettisville 25-22.
Set two started with a fault by Montpelier and a pair of aces from Pettisville senior Grace Hastings, followed by a back-and-forth trading of points that left the Blackbirds up 6-3.
In a sometimes one-point, sometimes two-point battle back and forth, which saw at one point the teams tied at seven, almost all the scoring came from faults.
Then Pettisville went on a nine-point tear run, again mostly consisting of Locomotive faults, but also including another kill from Strauss, an ace from senior Courtney Wiemken, and a kill from sophomore Addison Davis, bringing the score to 21-10.
The Locomotives fought back with an ace of their own courtesy of sophomore Morgan Bechtol and a kill from sophomore Alyvia Repp, and put together their own four-point run, which saw a pair of kills from Dick, but they were unable to recover from the scoring deficit, and a kill from Richer sealed the Blackbird victory, 25-18.
The Blackbirds came out swinging with a four-point run to start the third set, including three aces from Hastings. A spate of faults later, the Locomotives scored with one kill each from Uribes and Repp to bring the score to 7-6.
Momentum was already on Pettisville’s side, however, and they took nine out of the next 11 points, including a pair of four-point runs which saw kills from sophomore Bailey Booth, Hastings, Strauss, and Richer.
Montpelier’s next four points would all come from Blackbird faults, before the Pettisville team put together a five-point run to put the score at 23-12.
A serving fault gave the Locomotives their last point, after which a Strauss kill was followed up by a Montpelier fault, delivering the set to the Blackbirds 25-13, as well as the match, 3-0.
Pettisville d. Montpelier 25-22, 25-18, 25-13
Montpelier (0-6): Bella Ramos – 15 assists; Maggie Jacob – 24 digs
Pettisville (3-3): Becca Strauss – 14 kills, 11 digs; Grace Hastings – 29 assists, 14 digs
JUNIOR VARSITY: Pettisville, 25-13, 25-17
FRESHMAN: Pettisville, 19-25, 25-18, 25-19