By James Massara

ELIDA – “We want Carey” rang out from the Buckeye Central student section during the fourth set of the Buckettes regional semi-final game, and those students are getting their wish.

The Buckeye Central volleyball team began the match hot, got cold and then surged to victory Thursday evening, and earned a date Saturday afternoon against the familiar foe in the regional finals.

The Buckettes defeated Ada, 3-1, to advance to play N10 rival Carey for the regional crown and a trip to the Nutter Center at Wright State University and the state final four.

Buckeye Central jumped out to an early 10-3 lead in the first set, but the Bulldogs put together a 13-5 run to take a 16-15 lead. It then took a few extra points, but Ada took the first set, 26-24.

Buckeye Central coach Jackie Nye said the Buckettes needed to make both strategic and emotional adjustments after the first set.

“Strategically, we worked on moving our block out of the middle a little bit,” Nye said. “Emotionally, we just said ‘you’ve got to play your game, do your job, limit your mistakes, but also have fun and not think about it too much.’”

Another focus in the game plan was to take away Ada’s biggest threat, 6-foot left-handed middle hitter Melina Woods who is committed to Division 1 Canisius.

“We knew that they were going to go to her a lot,” Nye said. “We worked on setting up on that left arm for her and then making sure we were ready for that back-row attack.”

The second set began just as the first, with a Buckeye Central 10-3 lead. This time, however, the Buckettes held the lead. By the time Ada called its second timeout of the second set, Buckeye Central was nipping at the heels of victory, leading 22-13.

The Buckettes closed the door on the second set, winning it 25-14.

The final two sets saw identical scores as Buckeye Central won both sets, 25-16.

“I’m really happy with the way the girls finished the game. We got back to playing our type of volleyball. It was good to see them able to make some mistakes and bounce back from it, and they bounced back really well after that.”

Nye said no matter who won the second session; she knew the Buckettes were going to have their work cut out for them Saturday. Though Buckeye Central knows Carey well from the regular season, Nye said her team saw Toledo Christian in a preseason scrimmage in August and she was prepared to see whoever won.

Due to the stage of the tournament, Nye said she expects a tough game regardless of the opponent.

Nye also gave her thanks to the filled Buckeye Central fan section that made the 78-mile trek to the Elida Fieldhouse.

“It was great,” Nye said. “To see our side so filled with red, the Buckeye Central community has given our girls so much support all season. It’s awesome.”

Carey had little trouble with Toledo Christian until the third set of the match.

The Blue Devils won the first two sets, 25-21 and 25-19, but found themselves trailing in the third.

The Eagles led Carey 12-9 in the third set, forcing a Carey timeout. Toledo Christian extended its lead to 17-10 forcing Carey coach Eric Vackert to call another timeout.

The Blue Devils came out of the break in play with a 4-0 run and closed the gap to 21-20. Carey then used a 5-2 run to take the third set and claim its spot in the finals.

Buckeye Central and Carey face off at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Elida Fieldhouse.