Local Sports

Warriors fall in four sets to Pirates in district final

LOGAN -- Coming into her first season as Warren's volleyball coach, Kaitlyn Cremeans wasn't sure what the Warriors would be capable of.

"We knew we had talent, but we didn’t really know how far that was going to get us," she said.

Behind standout seasons from sisters Elayna and Taylor Greenwalt, paired with players like Annebelle Moore, Remi Elzey, Jaelynn Nichols, Lizzie Reeder, Imagin Daly and Charleigh Hoff coming into their own, the Warriors racked up 20 wins and advanced all the way to the district finals.

Saturday at Jim Myers Gymnasium, Warren lost to Wheelersburg in four sets (25-19, 25-27, 25-22, 25-18) in the Division IV Southeast District championship match.

"I think we played well," Cremeans said. "I think they fought. I think they had a lot of effort today, but I don’t think they were quite where they wanted to be consistently."

After dropping the opening set, Warren built a 19-11 advantage in the second. The Pirates, who improved to 21-3, rallied for 13 of the next 17 points to take a 24-23 lead. Warren punched back though, as a kill by Elzey and a pair of kills by Taylor Greenwalt allowed the Warriors to even the match at 1-all.

Taylor Greenwalt finished with 19 kills and four aces. Her older sister, Elayna, posted a game-high 24 kills to go along with three aces.

"I think our front row played hard," Cremeans said. “I think they played aggressive. We usually thrive up there, so it was nice to still have that part, but I think defensively, especially passing at times, we just let the other side build a lot of momentum, let them build a lot of confidence with what they were doing. We couldn’t defend it a lot. Our defense was still shifting by the time they were swinging. We just weren’t dropped, hips weren’t low, just a lot of little things, and we made too many unforced errors at the end of the day. That kind of cost us some big points."

In the third set, Warren got down early and never recovered.

The Warriors bounced back in the fourth to take a 9-5 lead, but Wheelersburg used a 9-1 run to flip the script and take a 14-10 advantage.

Alyssa Mullins led Wheelersburg, which plays River View at 8 p.m. Wednesday in the regional semifinals, with 22 kills. Lainey Skeens also reached double figures with 11 while Adi Bockway and Laikyn Hall added six and five kills, respectively.

For the Warriors, it was the final chapter of an exciting 2026 campaign.

"I guess starting maybe the second half of the season, we started to play some tougher teams on our schedule, and we were able to kind of see, like, 'OK, we’re getting a grip on it,'" Cremeans said. "'We’re running a set lineup at this point. We’re building off of this. Let’s just see where it goes.' We were able to take down some tough teams this season, and built some confidence up for that. At that point it's like, 'OK, you’ve got to run for it.' Their goal was a Sweet 16 finish. One game shy. I think they set a realistic goal for themselves. I think they could have won this today, just if more pieces had come together for them at times. It was a fun game, fun season. Hard loss, but a good loss. We went out to a good team."

Elayna Greenwalt is off to Glenville State after leading the Warriors with 6.1 kills per set this season. She was a sophomore and a key contributor on the 2024 team that made the Final Four.

"She’s left her mark," Cremeans said. "Everyone knows who she is. She’s left an incredible mark on this program. It’s definitely going to hurt to lose her next year. Hopefully we can fill in the gap of losing her. I coached her in club for a few seasons too, so I’ve had a relationship with her outside of just this season with her. So tough to lose, but excited to see what she does in the future."

Contact Jordan Holland at jholland@mariettatimes.com.