The Teays Valley Vikings will take on the Big Walnut Golden Eagles at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. Both come into the contest bolstered by wins in their previous matches.
Teays Valley was handed a three-set loss in their previous outing, but that didn't affect their clutch gene on Wednesday. They had just enough and edged out Mt. Vernon 3-2. The victory continues a trend for the Vikings in their matchups with the Yellowjackets: they've now won four in a row.
If you add up the scores from across all five sets (108-104) Teays Valley actually scored fewer points, but in the end it didn't matter. The match finished with set scores of 28-26, 25-23, 20-25, 16-25, 15-9.
Ellie Tatman
| 10/22/25 vs Mt. Vernon | 31 |
| 10/09/25 @ Logan | 24 |
| 10/07/25 vs Pickerington Central | 10 |
| 10/06/25 vs Westerville North | 20 |
| 10/02/25 @ Newark | 25 |
| + 28 more games |
Teays Valley's success was spearheaded by the efforts of Ellie Tatman, who had 31 digs and two aces, and Emma Minton, who had 19 digs and four aces. Tatman has been hot for a while, having posted ten or more digs the last 33 times she's played. The team also got some help courtesy of Peyton Zedlitz, who had 13 digs and three aces.
They weren't the only good servers: Teays Valley was lethal from the service line and finished the match with 12 aces. That's the most aces they've posted since back in September.
Meanwhile, there's no place like home for Big Walnut, who bounced back after a loss on the road two weeks ago. They blew past Marion Harding 3-0 on Wednesday.
The 3-0 score doesn't show just how dominant Big Walnut was: they took every set by at least ten points. Once all was said and done, the final score wound up at 25-6, 25-11, 25-15.
Big Walnut's record is now 17-6. As for Teays Valley, they now have a winning record of 12-11.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Saturday's matchup: Teays Valley has really dialed in their serving this season, having averaged 8.7 aces per game. However, it's not like Big Walnut struggles in that department as they've been averaging 8.1 aces. Given these competing strengths, it'll be interesting to see how their clash plays out.
Teays Valley suffered a grim 3-0 defeat to Big Walnut in their previous matchup back in October of 2024. Can the Vikings avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.
