​LONDONDERRY — Sometimes, destiny’s not on one’s side in a particular match.But that doesn’t mean what the Clay Panthers’ volleyball program accomplished in 2026 goes for naught.Yes, Clay lost a straight-set decision to Trimble, as the Lady Panthers fell by a 3-0 (24-26, 19-25, 17-25) margin to the Lady ‘Cats in a OHSAA Division VII District Semifinal on Thursday evening at Chillicothe Southeastern High School.But with 19 wins, Keith Cottle’s group won its most matches in a season in eight years. Dating back to the 2006 season, Clay’s 19 victories marked the fourth-most by any individual Lady Panther volleyball team during that timespan. And for the third season in a row since Cottle took over in 2024, Clay finished second in the SOC I standings after not finishing higher than fourth in the SOC I rundown in each of the three seasons prior to Cottle taking over the program.Cottle credits the program’s upward trajectory to that of his three graduating seniors — standout Division VII Second Team All-District setter Addie Willis who finished north of 1,700 career assists in her four seasons at Clay, as well as multi-sport athlete Caroline Ridenour and Lily Churchheus.”Those three seniors have been really great leaders this season,” Cottle said. “Addie has been a four-year varsity starter. She’s seen the program go from having six wins in a season to 19, and she’s been a huge part of that turnaround. We’re definitely going to miss her. They have nothing to hang their heads about. One bad game doesn’t mean it’s a bad season for us. That’s what I tried to remind them. They’ve done a lot to turn Clay volleyball around. We’ll get back to the district finals.”The start to Tuesday’s district semifinal couldn’t have been any better for the Lady Panthers.First Team All-District honoree Elin Shaw nabbed three kills and forced four attack errors for Clay, who jumped out to an 8-0 lead over Trimble within minutes as the Lady Panther attack looked crisp and pristine early on.When Trimble closed to within 10-6 later in the first set, Clay collected itself and showed its power, jumping out to an 18-7 lead as Alayna Shepherd’s two kills, an ace by Keira Hicks and a kill by Willis gave Clay its largest lead.”That run was really, really good,” Cottle said. “That’s what we try to focus on in practice. We try to get ahead and stay ahead.”But six aces by the Lady ‘Cats in the opening set proved to give the Lady Panthers fits in the opening set, and in what would be a reoccurring theme, Trimble’s effective short serves kept Clay’s offense off balance.Central in its play, Trimble used the short serving game to furiously rally as the Lady ‘Cats went on an 19-6 run to close out the first set with a 26-24 victory.Trimble ultimately finished with no less than five aces in any set — amassing 16 service aces as a team on the evening.”Trimble served very, very well,” Cottle said. “They kept us out of our system almost the entire night. We have a very specific offensive syste