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Waterford girls sweep Wahama

RON JOHNSTON The Marietta Times Waterford’s Jillian McCutcheon prepares to serve the ball during a high school volleyball game against Wahama Tuesday.

WATERFORD — Jill McCutcheon has had eventful week on the volleyball court.

After the 5-foot-4 Waterford senior setter eclipsed the 2,000 career assists mark Monday in a 3-set win against Miller, she added 29 more to that total in the Wildcats’ 3-0 sweep of visiting Wahama Tuesday evening, which also happened to be Senior Night at the Harry W.Cooper Annex.

“A lot’s happened,” McCutcheon said. “We won. We got our (2015 state tournament) banner unveiled. A lot of people were here for us, and that was good.”

Those people saw Waterford (14-4 overall, 13-0 Tri-Valley Conference) shoot down the winless Falcons, 25-14, 25-14, and 25-8.

“It was emotional and it was a really nice night,” said Waterford head coach Laken Shook. “We got everyone pretty much in off the bench and that’s always fun.”

Along with McCutcheon, seniors’ Sam Armstrong and Melanie Radabaugh were also recognized and honored before the start of the varsity match.

McCutcheon also finished with three points and four digs; Armstrong had 19 points, two aces, one kill, two assists, and nine digs, while Radabaugh contributed nine points, one ace, two kills, and six digs.

“It’s nice to get it done and over with,” said Shook of Senior Night. “Now, we can focus on the rest of the season. We have a couple of big games next week against Fort Frye (Wednesday, Oct. 12) and Southern (Monday, Oct. 10). Those will be good games to get us ready for tournament.”

At the net, the ‘Cats were led by Megan Ball and Alli Kern, who each had 10 kills and one block. Kern also finished with seven point, and Ball had five.

“Waterford’s got a couple of girls that definitely will go somewhere and play volleyball at the next level,” said Wahama coach Matt VanMeter.

Waterford’s Haley Klintworth added 14 points, three aces, and seven digs, while Ana-Sophia Beardsley chipped in with six kills and one block, and Hayley Duff had 8 points and five kills.

With Armstrong serving, McCutcheon setting, and Ball hitting, Waterford staked itself to a 9-0 advantage in the first set. The Wildcats then coasting home with an 11-point victory.

“Waterford’s had a volleyball program for a long time,” VanMeter said. “Our girls are learning what the Waterford girls are forgetting basically. I mean, they’ve played so long. We’re just in our seventh year.”

In the second game, it was close at the start, but then with Kern and Beardley getting nice balls to hit from McCutcheon, the Wildcats slowly but surely pulled away from the Falcons, and again won by 11.

While Kern sat out the first game, Ball did the same in the second set.

“We’re trying it out, experimenting,” Shook said.

Both Kern and Ball were on the court at the same time in the third game, and Waterford won easily by 17 points.

VanMeter said that Wahama was “a young team.”

“We’ve got a lot of sophomores and freshmen out there that are playing on the varsity level,” the Falcons boss added. “When we get into double digits against Waterford, it’s a win for our team.

“We made simple mistakes which you can’t have against a team like this. You can’t do that against a team of that caliber.”

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