BASCOM — For the second straight Division I district tournament game, Perrysburg avenged a regular season loss, propelling the Yellow Jackets to next week’s regional tournament.

After 18-7 Perrysburg defeated Northern Lakes League Cardinal Division champion Fremont Ross (20-4) in four sets on Monday, the Yellow Jackets defeated Clay (14-11) in three sets, 25-23, 25-19, 25-23, at Hopewell-Loudon High School on Wednesday.

The Little Giants had defeated the Yellow Jackets in five sets during the regular season and the Eagles had downed the Jackets in four sets, but in the tournament Perrysburg turned the tables on both to win their third straight district title.

“We lost to them the first time around so we came in here with a chip on our shoulder,” Perrysburg junior outside hitter Sophie Burkey said.

“We just wanted it more than anything. Obviously, now we have a three-peat. I feel like we didn’t play our best in certain areas, but we really stepped up our serve. We had a lot of aces tonight and just keeping within our system was really key.”

Perrysburg coach Laura Davidson says her team plays for the tournament, and now that they are healthy and playing their best, it makes a difference.

“I think the feeling is different when you are in the tournament. Not that we didn’t want to win the first time,” Davidson said.

“We weren’t 100% healthy when we played them the first time, (sophomore outside hitter) Katie (Pahl) was just getting back (from an injury), so I just think in the season you’re fighting, you’re trying to get healthy, and I think we had a nice little break (first week of tournament).

“We come into the tournament with a completely different mindset that you’ve got to give every single thing you’ve got every single point. I told them not to look at the scoreboard. I said every point matters and that is what they did.”

Burkey led Perrysburg with eight aces, two blocks and four kills, Pahl had 10 kills and two aces, and senior middle blocker Wrigley Takats had six kills with one ace and one block.

Junior outside hitter MacKenzie Hurley had eight kills and two blocks and sophomore middle blocker Mia Brandeberry had four kills and three blocks for the Jackets.

The Yellow Jackets say it was the serving that made the biggest difference.

“I think tonight we just served really aggressive,” Takats said. “We knew that if we were going to win, we needed to be aggressive on the defensive and offensive side. Serving is a big part of our offense so I think that was our key.

Davidson added, “That’s part of our game plan. If serving is not a major part of our offense, then we are not going to win, right?”

The match saw multiple runs and lead changes with Clay going ahead 7-2 in the first set on a kill by junior Natalie Karrick.

However, a kill by Takats tied the game at 14-14 and then Perrysburg’s southpaw server, Pahl, served three aces and the Jackets went up 18-14 never to trail again. Clay did close to 24-23, but Takats had the set point kill.

In the second set, Clay reeled off the first six points, three of them on combined block assists by senior outside hitter Adella Rodriguez and senior middle hitter Avery Young. Rodriguez had scored six points on either a block or kill as the Eagles still led, 9-4.

However, behind the serving of Burkey, Perrysburg scored 13 straight points to go ahead 17-9, and two aces by junior defensive specialist Brooklynn Okoneski put the Jackets up, 21-10. Clay closed to within five, but Burkey had the set-point kill.

In the third, Young assisted on two blocks and the Eagles went up 13-9, then a kill by Clay sophomore middle hitter Dylanie Pollauf put the Eagles ahead 19-13 when Davidson called a timeout.

Once again, it came down to serving, Davidson said.

“So we did have a lull in our serving in the middle of the third set,” Davidson said. “Then we had a timeout and I said, ‘Serving is going to take us to the end and we have to serve tougher. We have to serve harder.’ They listened, they toughened it up and they did.”

Trailing 22-16, Burkey served two aces to tie the game at 22-22, Pahl had a kill that deflected off a Clay block out of bounds, and Takats put away the game-winning kill.

While Davidson was taking pride in her team’s serving, Clay coach Carrie Wagoner was harping on her team’s passing.

The Eagles had defeated NLL Buckeye Division champion Anthony Wayne in four sets to advance to the district final, but Wagoner said good passing was nowhere to be found on Wednesday.

“I just think our passing wasn’t really on today,” Wagoner said. “We came out with Anthony Wayne and passes were good.

“When our passes aren’t on with this team, we just can’t find our mojo, I’d say. As a unit, it starts with the pass and hit and we were just really off on defense today.”

Now Perrysburg, defending state semifinalists, advances to the Norwalk regional to take on Toledo St. Ursula (17-8) at 7:30 p.m. in a Thursday semifinal with the regional championship set for 2 p.m. on Saturday. The two teams have not met this year, but Takats promises her team will be ready.

“I think we should just focus on ourselves this week at practice,” Takats said. “We’ll obviously prepare for them, but if we are going to win we need to focus on ourselves.”