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Quakers secure bragging rights

Morning Journal/Chris Rambo Salem’s Jaden Hamilton spikes between West Branch’s Sydney Mercer (left) and Jessica Bock during the Quakers’ win Thursday.

BELOIT–With the Eastern Buckeye Conference title already decided, rivals Salem and west Branch were playing for pride, bragging rights and momentum in Thursday’s regular season finale.

On a night with several back-and-forth twists, it was the Quakers who emerged with a 25-22, 19-25, 25-22, 25-18 victory at West Branch High School.

“Being a senior, these rivalry games carry on an added meaning,” Salem’s Elly Exline said. “We compete hard against each other all the time and tonight’s match was no different. It feels great to finish off the season with a win over them.”

The Quakers close the regular season at 17-5 overall and 10-2 in the EBC, locking up second place by themselves. West Branch drops to 16-6, 8-4.

“We look forward to playing West Branch all the time,” Salem coach Sarah Hamilton said. “We really rise to the occasion against them, and to finish like this puts a nice bow on our season.”

Exline had a big effort two-way effort for the Quakers with 12 kills and 18 digs, while Jaden Hamilton added 15 kills and two blocks and Hayden Carner had 13 kills and two blocks. Jenna McClish led the defense with 25 digs. Kaylee Furman had four aces and 33 assists.

Salem has won 11 out of 12 and hopes to be rounding into form at the most important time of the year.

“Playing a team as strong as West Branch really builds our confidence,” Hamilton said. “Defensively tonight we were all over the place making some really tough plays. We have a really scrappy team that doesn’t take a play off.”

The third-seeded Quakers will be back on the same floor Wednesday for a Division II sectional opener at 6 p.m. against Youngstown Chaney. Looming as the top two seeds are EBC champion Marlington and Canfield. The two schools accounted for three of the five Salem defeats this season.

“I think that we’re a team that can definitely compete,” Exline said. “Earlier in the season I don’t think we were playing up to our potential. If we had a second chance, I think it would be different.”

After the Quakers pulled out a hard-fought first game, West Branch evened things up with a 7-2 spurt to close the second game.

The third game was the most dramatic of the night. After eight ties and seven lead changes, West Branch held a 21-19 lead. However, the Quakers roared ahead with a closing 6-1 run to take the game and seize momentum.

“We’ve gotten a lot better at finishing as the year has gone on,” Hamilton said. “We had a lot of close matches at the beginning and we lacked a lot of consistency. Now that we have some more experience, they’re able to maintain their composure when it’s close at the end.”

Salem took control in the middle of the fourth game with an 8-1 run. The Warriors never got closer than five points the rest of the way.

Sydney Mercer led West Branch with 15 points, 15 kills and four aces. Riley Tuel had 11 kills. Elise Wallace had 36 assists.

Salem swept the Warriors in the first match between the two teams in September.

Fourth-seeded West Branch gets its tournament run started on its home floor with a Div. II sectional opener at 6 p.m. Monday against 13th-seeded Ravenna.

“We definitely played a lot better than the last time against them (Salem),” West Branch coach Penny DeShields said. “We kept things in perspective after the match. Sometimes girls get so pumped up because of big rivalries that they forget the goal is to win no matter who is on the other side. We still have a lot of room to grow and we have a new season starting next week. I think we’re getting to our best ball at the most important time.”

Game notes

¯ West Branch honored seniors Jessica Bock, Elise Wallace and Sammie Tuel as part of senior night festivities before the match.

¯ West Branch won the junior varsity match, 27-25, 25-23.

Grace Slimon had nine points, two aces and five assists for the Warriors. Claire Brunner had seven points and four aces.

Alivia Davidson had five kills for the Quakers, while Emma Hochadel had 12 assists.

¯ The Salem Junior High School, Salem High School and West Branch Middle School volleyball teams recently donated over $2,700 in proceeds from their “Volley for a Cure” fundraisers to the Salem Regional Medical Center Foundation.

The donations from the Salem Junior High and West Branch Middle School volleyball teams will be used by the Foundation to support SRMC’s advanced imaging services for cancer detection. Monies raised by Salem’s High School team will benefit the hospital’s cancer care program.

“We’re very grateful that the Salem and West Branch volleyball teams chose the SRMC Foundation as their ‘Volley for a Cure’ charity, and would like to thank the team members, coaches and community members who supported the fundraisers,” said Amy Reed, SRMC Director of Development. “All of the proceeds will remain locally in our community and be used to benefit area cancer patients by supporting SRMC’s state-of-the-art medical imaging technology and world-class cancer care services.”

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