​CHILLICOTHE — The hits just keep coming for Chillicothe’s volleyball program.And that’s not a fun pun. It’s the unfortunate truth.While it’s still early in the season, the injury bug has already taken its toll on the Cavaliers, seemingly rearing its ugly head to bite them in every match they’ve played.Coming into a crosstown rivalry game at Unioto, Chillicothe was shorthanded, forced to play without senior starters Marisa Stiteler and Izabella Canter.RELATED: Ligon’s three scores, two picks carry Chillicothe past WheelersburgThat only made the task of trying to beat the Shermans taller. But the Cavaliers haven’t viewed adversity as a roadblock. They’ve viewed it as a detour. On Saturday, even against the odds, they once again changed routes to get to their eventual destination — a 13-25, 25-13, 25-23, 14-25, 15-12 victory.“These girls are just special. Every last one of them,” Chillicothe coach Leslie Hamman said. “This is about all of the girls. They work well together, they trust each other, they love each other. They practice hard, too. We’ve worked really hard in the gym these past three days and it’s just been incredible to watch this come together.”In the first set, Unioto took advantage of Chillicothe’s inexperience and used it to take a lead.The Shermans looked sharp, using the combination of Charlotte Dennis and Kori Grubbs to build advantages of 12-7 and 18-12 en route to a match-opening 12-point win. “I really believe that the first set was just us getting the nerves out and working through a new lineup,” Hamman said. “At this point in the season, a lot of teams are really solid on their lineup. We’re on our third change, and we thought we had those kinks worked out.”The Cavaliers (2-3) figured out the right combination in the second. Led by Evelyn Hamman and Kendal Stoneking, they seized a 10-4 lead before it swelled to 21-10, paving the way to tie the match at 1-1.They carried the momentum into the third as well, taking a 2-1 lead with a 25-23 win.Throughout the set, Hamman and Stoneking received some much-needed help from sophomore Emma Whalen and the junior pair of Sydnee Wade and Kiera Blankenship.Wade has seen significant playing time this fall, but Whalen and Blankenship’s exposure to the varsity level has been scarce. In a big moment, the youngsters stepped up in a big way.“It’s been really nice this year to have more of an offense outside of Evelyn,” Hamman said. “We’re able to spread it out, and it was a matter of building the confidence in our setters and our other hitters. Once they believed that, they showed it. I think they showed it tonight.”With its back against the wall, Unioto (2-2) used a massive service run from freshman Kara Spetnagel to win the fourth.After Chillicothe took a 9-5 lead, the Shermans battled to go ahead 13-12. Spetnagel stepped to the service line with a 15-13 lead and ripped off eight consecutive points to help push the match into the fifth