Waterford captains Elsie Malec (1), Cira Ponchak (14), Ali Price (13) and Kendyl Johnson (7) share a laugh as head coach Juwan Hollins looks on prior to the Wildcats' sweep of host Belpre on Thursday evening at Joe Garrett Court. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

BELPRE — Tri-Valley Conference Hocking Division members Waterford and Belpre clashed here Thursday evening on Joe Garrett Court and the Wildcats of first-year head coach Juwan Hollins left town with a 25-19, 25-23 and 25-21 sweep.

Waterford, which improved to 3-8 and has an 11 a.m. Saturday match up next at Frontier, received match-highs of three aces and 31 assists from Brooklyn Cooper while teammate Brynnlee Pottmeyer, who had two aces, put down a match-high baker’s dozen kills.

“It looked like she slammed her hand to the floor,” coach Hollins said of losing setter and quad captain Kendyl Johnson. “It swelled up pretty badly, but Brooklyn did a great job. We usually run a 6-2 so she has setting experience.

“It wasn’t anything for them to pick up on that, but all credit to the girls. They knew exactly what to do in that situation so that win is on them. All credit goes to them.”

Pottmeyer got plenty of support in the downed spikes department thanks to Kaylee Martin’s nine kills, Cira Ponchak’s seven and Ali Price’s half dozen.

Belpre's Liv Harrington makes a pass as teammate Gracie Bills looks on during the Golden Eagles' 3-0 setback to Waterford on Thursday night at Joe Garrett Court. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Late in the match, the Golden Eagles lost Layla McDonald, who had an ace and five kills, to an ankle injury.

“She’ll be OK. She’s a tough one. She’ll be fine,” admitted BHS head coach Haley Bonar, who got 14 assists and six kills from Khloe Cooper, six downed spikes from Gracie Bills, five kills by Liv Harrington along with two aces, a pair of assists and two kills via Lucy Ruble. “I think this season we’ve been trying to focus on finding a new identity after we graduated a big group last year. That’s obviously been a struggle.

“We’re trying to figure out who can lock down what and what roles on the court and how we can be most effective. We’ve been playing with our lineup. We’ve finally settled into one the last two or three games and it’s getting better every single game, but they are young. This group, all of these players played in different positions in the year prior and they are all filling bigger roles than they’ve had in the past.”

The Golden Eagles held an early 7-6 advantage in set one following a Harrington service point, but Martin’s tip kill followed and Pottmeyer served for six straight as the Wildcats took control. A second-hit kill by Cooper kept the hosts within striking distance at 18-16, but the hosts followed with their third and fourth service errors of the set as Cooper served for an ace on set point.

Waterford found itself trailing 14-12 midway through set two as Harrington had a kill and an ace, and Bills put one to the floor. Following ties at 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19-all, the Wildcats got downed spikes from Martin, Ponchak and Price to get some breathing room with Zoey Smithberger serving.

Waterford setter Brooklyn Cooper finished with a match-high 31 assists during the Wildcats' sweep of host Belpre on Thursday evening at Joe Garrett Court. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Belpre fought off a pair of set points and it was 24-23 after Bills blocked Price, but the Golden Eagles didn’t have quite enough.

A Bills block, a Harrington kill, a service tally from Calli Meredith as well as an ace from Cooper helped BHS to a quick 4-1 start in set three.

However, Pottmeyer delivered a quartet of kills as libero Elsie Malec served up four straight for a 6-4 advantage.

Despite going back ahead with Bills at the service line, it was 8-7 Wildcats after Baleigh Pottmeyer’s ace and 14-11 following a service point by Sarah Anderson. Coach Bonar’s squad cut it to 14-13 after libero Lexi Gruber got an assist thanks to a Cooper kill, but the hosts never managed to regain the lead.

It was tied for the final time at 20, but Price had a kill and then Cooper an ace. Anderson served up an ace on point 24 and a Belpre attack error sealed the match.

Belpre libero Lexi Gruber makes a pass to the front row as teammate Layla McDonald looks on during Thursday's 3-0 setback to Waterford at Joe Garrett Court. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

“It’s the third win of the year, but we had eight or nine seniors graduate from last year’s team,” added coach Hollins. “Going in we knew we didn’t have a lot of experience varsity-wise. We’ve played a really tough schedule.

“As AD and now coach I didn’t really do myself any favors when it comes to the schedule, but right now we’re starting to get into a groove to where we are playing consistently the way that we know we can play.”

Belpre will try and improve to 2-9 when Caldwell invades at 5:30 p.m. Monday.

Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com

Waterford's Brynnlee Pottmeyer serves up an ace in the first set of the Wildcats' sweep of host Belpre on Thursday night at Joe Garrett Court. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)

Belpre's Gracie Bills goes on the attack as teammate Khloe Cooper looks on during the Golden Eagles' 3-0 set to Waterford on Thursday night at Joe Garrett Court. Bills and Cooper had six kills apiece to lead the hosts. (Photo by Jay W. Bennett)