WARDSVILLE - It was fitting for the Blair Oaks volleyball team to play its final match in the old high school gym against a rival.
Even more fitting for it to be a win.
The Lady Falcons showed the road to the Tri-County Conference championship will still go through them, wherever their home court will be. Blair Oaks swept California 25-17, 25-16, 25-20 on Thursday, handing the Lady Pintos their first loss of the season.
"This was the best way we could've finished out here," said Blair Oaks coach Megan Distler, whose team will move its home matches to the new high school gym starting next week. "Hopefully we start some new traditions in the new gym."
Blair Oaks never trailed in the first two sets, leading 6-0 in the first and 5-0 in the second.
"That's something we've been emphasizing all season, focusing on being the first team to five points and setting the tone," Distler said. "Tonight, we couldn't have drawn it up any better."
The Lady Falcons led 12-2 in the first set following Kennedy Flanner's first kill of the night. She finished with a team-high 11 kills, and recorded kills on Blair Oaks' final three points of the opening set.
Anna Wekenborg added eight kills and Bailey Braun tacked on seven kills. Blair Oaks had five players with at least five kills in the match.
"We have so many good weapons right now," Distler said. "They're all firing well. Definitely a wealth of offense."
Meanwhile, Blair Oaks did what it could to keep California's Ella Lewis from getting on a roll. Lewis had a team-high 115 kills through the Lady Pintos' first 10 matches, but she was held to five kills Thursday.
"Last year, the one game we lost to California was because Ella pounded us," Distler said. "We wanted to make sure her and Isabella Kincaid - who is having a solid season - that we kept the damage minimal."
In the second set, a block and a kill by California's Lauren Friedrich cut the Blair Oaks lead to 15-8. However, that was as close as the Lady Pintos would get.
Sarah Girard answered with a kill, Madi Rissmiller served an ace and a California attack error pushed the Lady Falcons' lead to 10. Kincaid had back-to-back kills to close the gap to single digits late in the set, but a Flanner kill again ended the set, giving Blair Oaks a 2-0 lead.
In the third set, California had the upper hand, taking a 10-7 lead following kills by Abby Trachsel and Friedrich, leading to Distler calling a timeout.
"I was just trying to get them refocused," Distler said. "They do a great job of regrouping and getting back into it."
The Lady Pintos stretched their lead to 14-9 after a kill by Lewis, but it was all Lady Falcons after that.
Flanner had a kill to cap a 6-1 run, tying the set at 15. It would be tied again at 16, at 17, at 18 and at 19.
Braun and Girard broke the final tie with back-to-back kills and Payton Mitchell served an ace, giving Blair Oaks breathing room to finish the set on a 6-1 run.
"We just had some good offense," Distler said. "Our hitters were making some smart shots there."
Rissmiller tallied 25 assists for Blair Oaks, while Mitchell had 15 digs and five aces. Wekenborg and Autumn Bax each had four blocks.
Trachsel had four kills and Friedrich added four kills and four blocks for California (9-1-1, 2-1 Tri-County), which plays Tuesday at Capital City.
Blair Oaks (10-2, 4-0 Tri-County) will play its next match in its new high school gym Tuesday against Jefferson City. The freshman match starts at 5 p.m., followed by the JV at 6:15 p.m. and the varsity at 7:30 p.m.
"We practiced there a little bit yesterday," Distler said. "They're excited, they're ready to be over there at the high school."
In the JV match, Blair Oaks defeated California 25-11, 25-13 to improve to 7-0.
Abbi Wieberg had five kills for the Lady Falcons, while Alison Sporleder had seven assists, Amber Samson had 10 digs, Kenley Mitchell served four aces and Rylie Mayer had two blocks.
Blair Oaks started with a 25-12, 25-9 win in the freshman match to move to 5-3-1.
Chloe Heislen had a team-high six kills, Anna Prenger added 11 assists and six aces and Alyssa Henry posted 11 digs for the Lady Falcons.