By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

PLEASANT HILL — The Bradford volleyball team had their season end at the hands of the two seed Covington Lady Bucs in the OHSAA Division VII Southwest Sectional Tournament on Oct. 19 at Newton High School.

These two teams last played on Oct. 7 where Covington also swept them then. Head coach Jamie Hocker said after they game, they thought they had Covington’s hitting areas known and covered. The talent from Covington was too much for them to overcome, especially after having some injuries occur right before the match.

“We thought we had some of their hitting areas covered, but we just didn’t We come out today with two injuries right away during warmups. Which kind of put us down. For them to come out and still play, the two injuries, they tightened up and said, ‘Nope, we’re going.’ It was great, but they still weren’t 100%,” Hocker said.

Covington came out ready to go as they won the first set 25-7. The Lady Bucs were strong offensively and didn’t let many balls passed them defensively.

Bradford made some adjustments in the second half to keep it close. The Lady Railroaders capitalized on some Covington mistakes and got points. Senior Megan Wood and sophomore Addysen Mills were able to get off some attack attempts and get the Covington defense moving.

But, the Lady Bucs were still hot on offense and won the second set 25-16.

That momentum carried over for the Lady Bucs as they didn’t let Bradford gain any momentum in the third set. The Lady Railroaders tried their best to keep the rally going and get some points out of them. But, Covington kept the ball off the floor and finished off with kill to win 25-4 to secure the sweep.

Bradford finished the season with a 4-19 with a 2-9 WOAC record. Hocker said this year was a mental reset for the program as the team was able to just focus on going out and playing day in and day out. They improved as the season went on to set up for more improvement next season.

“For us to come out there and just be able to play together as a family, that’s all that mattered to me this year. We did get 100% better. The wins didn’t fall the way we wanted to. But, we got what we wanted out of this season,” Hocker said.

The team graduates two seniors, Kaylin Richard and Megan Wood. Hocker said Richard was a great libero who is always aggressive getting to the ball. She also said Wood played for the program for two seasons and wished she played for all four years.

“They’re both great and outstanding women and great leaders for the whole entire team. They’re going to be well missed,” Hocker said.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected].