LEXINGTON — Once Ava Brown and her Lady Lex teammates got up to speed, there was no slowing them down.
A 6-foot-2 outside hitter, Brown registered 24 kills as Lexington shook off a sluggish start for a 3-0 win over Clear Fork in a Division II sectional final Thursday at Lexington.
Top-seeded Lexington (18-5) advances to Tuesday’s district semifinals at Seneca East. Lady Lex will take on fourth-seeded Ontario, which dispatched Mansfield Senior in Thursday’s early match.
“We just kind of slacked a little bit in the first game,” Brown said. “Toward the end of the first set we really brought our ‘A’ game and we were going quick and playing the way we’re supposed to play.”
The 10th-seeded Colts, who upset No. 8 Sandusky Perkins in the sectional semifinals, led early the first game and were tied 14-14 before Lexington closed on an 11-4 run for a 25-19 win. Lex settled down after that, winning the second 25-13 and closing it out with a 25-15 win in the third.
“I knew that we were going to come out a little shaky. It’s always hard in (front of) a big crowd like this in tournament time and only three returning varsity letter winners,” Lexington coach Janelle Wyant said. “I was just proud of the way they rebounded and started passing the ball so we could swing. It was a team effort.
“We just kind of had to settle in and take a deep breath.”
The Colts had no answer for Brown or high-flying sophomore Tatum Stover, who had 11 kills. Fellow sophomore setter Bella Temple had 36 assists.
“We knew that if we could control the pass, we could swing. We have a lot of weapons,” Wyant said. “We’ve got to be able to get the ball to the setter so Bella can run the offense. They did a great job of working together.”
Lexington won a sectional championship for a second straight year. Lady Lex hadn’t won back-to-back sectional titles since 2016 and 2017.
“Our goal all year is to get 1 percent better every single day,” Wyant said. “I felt we got better tonight. It started a little rocky, but I loved the way they came back. It was a good team effort.
“It’s great for Lexington volleyball and it’s great for the community.”