Warren's Sarah Pettey (18) bumps the ball during a high school volleyball match against Fort Frye Thursday in Beverly. (Photo by Aaron Lee)

BEVERLY — On Thursday night, Warren traveled to Beverly for a Twin State League volleyball matchup between the Warriors and Cadets.

The first set started out relatively even, with the score tied up at 7-7. Warren began to pull away around the time that Madyson Long had a couple of great spikes. Fort Frye cut the margin to as close as two points at 19-17, but the Cadets were unable to keep up with Warren’s offensive strength. Makenna Long of the Warriors had back-to-back kills to end the first set at 25-19.

Fort Frye began the second set by racking up three straight points. Their lead got as big as four at 5-1. Warren then started to rally thanks to Sydney Starcher’s block and kill in the same volley. The Cadet’s responded a few points later with an excellent spike from Jackie Tornes.

The Warriors evened the score at 7-7 on the strength of back-to-back aces from Alexa Lewis. After trading points, Warren got the lead for good from an ace by Makenna Long to make the score 11-10. Down 18-14 Fort Frye’s Camryn Huck and Jenna White strung together two miraculous digs to keep the volley alive, although Warren ended up scoring the point.

The Warriors stretched their lead to six off of a huge play from Madyson Long, where she snuck her flattened hand in between the ball and the floor for a dig. Down six points, Alyssa Duskey of the Cadets had a great kill along the sideline to make the score 23-18. Warren went on to win set two 25-19.

The Warriors scored three in a row to begin the third set. In the middle of a Fort Frye rally, Carmen Henniger of the Cadets had a powerful block that pulled them within two points. The two teams then found themselves tied at seven points a piece. Warren had a lead for a moment, only for the Cadets to tie things back up at 16. Fort Frye’s Paige Morgenstern contributed to the comeback with two crucial spikes.

Thanks to key plays from Makenna and Madyson Long as well as plenty of others, the Warriors pulled ahead for good and won set three 25-20.

Warren head coach Ann Skufca described her thoughts on the match, “Today, there was a lot of emotions going through on both sides. We did well. I’m very proud of the girls and how they came out every point and ultimately got us a victory here tonight.”

She went on to cover the Warriors’ ability to stick with it despite lead changes and come out on top, “They were definitely hungry tonight, and we knew coming in that it was going to be a tough competition. We didn’t look for that next play, we were in the moment ready to make that point and make it count.”

Fort Frye falls to 5-9 on the season. The Cadets play next at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday in Athens against the Bulldogs. Warren improves to 11-2. They play their next match at 7:30 p.m. on Monday in Pomeroy against the Meigs Marauders.

Contact Aaron Lee at alee@newsandsentinel.com