By Cort Reynolds
ADA - The Ada volleyball team had its 19-match Northwest Conference win streak snapped by visiting Crestview in a competitive sweep Tuesday night.
The Lady Bulldog spikers drop to 10-8 and 3-1 in the NWC after the 25-18, 25-23, 25-21 loss. Crestview improved to 9-3 and 4-1 in NWC play with the victory.
It was the first Ada league loss since the final match of the 2015 season vs. Columbus Grove. The purple and gold had won 26 of their last 27 NWC matches.
"We just were not able to finish sets," said Ada head coach Kyleigh Tabor. "We had leads early in the last two sets.
"Crestview was defensively solid, they kept the ball alive and helped force us into errors," she continued. "Our defense also did a nice job. But we couldn't get enough sideouts."
The intensity and anticipation were high early on in the crucial NWC battle.
The Bulldogs fell behind 4-2 in set one after an ace by Maddy Lamb. A block kill by Aubrey Madison pulled Ada within 6-5 yet Crestview edged ahead 9-6.
A Madison kill was blocked out of bounds and Raina England hit cross court to make it 9-8 before a Bulldog serve sailed just long.
Megan Light hammered a clean kill and Crestview hit long to tie it 10-10. An error gave Ada its first lead briefly at 11-10, and Light then fond the open back corner with a fine kill. Ada hit long and Avery McCoy hammered a big smash to put the Knights back on top.
A block kill extended their lesad to 15-12, followed by a service winner. Miranda Wills hit the sideline to end a 5-0 flurry.
Two Ada errors stretched the Knight lead to 20-14. A clean kill and then an ace by McCoy made it 22-14. Lauryn Black served up a winner and Ada called timeout down 24-16. Light staved off a loss with two clean kills but Kaylee Wolford drilled a big hit off an Adaite to win game one, 25-18.
The teams traded points to start set two before Light crushed two clean kills to give Ada a 4-2 lead. A service error and a wide attack advanced the lead to 6-3. An England smash caromed off a Knight to the back wall for an 8-4 lead.
Rilan Conley served Ada further in front 11-4 before Crestview ended the 5-1 spurt. Four Bulldog errors were ended by a Light smash at 13-9.
Another Light kill trickled to the floor off the top of the net and a passing error put Ada in front 15-9. Light's tip and a Knight attack well long made it 17-10.
A McCoy kill was answered by a Madison hit off the top of the net. A Bulldog attack error and a McCoy tip cut the lead to four, but Conley's clutch smash ended a long rally in favor of Ada.
Another McCoy smash got the Knights within 20-15. The visitors won two long rallies to get within 20-17 and prompt an Ada timeout. After a key kill, Crestview served into the net to halt their momentum briefly at 21-18.
However a big kill and an ace by Black were followed by a block kill that tied it 21-all. Light's clean kill put the hosts back in front 22-21, but Ada served wide.
The Bulldogs hit into the net after long rally to give the Knights their first lead since the start of the set at 23-22. A Light block knotted the score again.
The Knights won a long, tense rally to reach set point. A well-placed serve by Lamb completed the second-set comeback for a 25-23 victory.
Wills opened set three with a block kill just inside the sideline as Gossard served Ada to a 3-0 lead. A Light kill and two Knight errors made it 6-1.
Crestview inched within 7-4 before Conley placed a clean kill. At 8-6 Madison's kill was tipped out, followed by a Bulldog serve into the net.
The Knights pulled to 9-8 before England thundered a clean kill to the open back. Cretsview tied it 10-10 by winning a long rally capped by a Black smash to the back row.
Power slams by Wolford and Lexi Gregory gave the Knights a 12-10 lead, but Light scored a kill off a double block, then recorded a solo block to tie it. A Light tip to the open center capped a long rally that gave Ada the lead back.
Gregory crushed an outside attack to tie it 13-all. Ada tipped wide and Gregory went high to put down a tip. Light kept Ada within a point on a well-placed smash, and they went ahead on consecutive errors, 16-15.
Crestview tied it again but a hitting error gave the hosts a slim lead once more. Yet McCoy and Black cracked massive smashes off blockers out of bounds to regain the lead for good.
Ada hit into the net, leading to a Bulldog timeout at 19-17. Black's left outside attack was again blocked out of bounds. Lexi Gregory served seven straight points to reach match point, then sailed one just wide for 24-18.
Morgan Swick's attack hit the net and dropped over to keep Ada alive. A big block cut it to 24-20 and led to a Knight timeout. Ada made it four points in a row before the lanky McCoy's middle smash was blocked out of bounds to seal the match, 25-21.
The Knight reserves also won the JV match in three.
Sophomore middle Light knocked down 15 kills and added three blocks to lead the Ada attack. "Megan had an outstanding game; when she was in there she was unstoppable."
Junior setter Gossard passed out 25 assists and made 15 digs. Senior libero Swick compiled 18 digs.
Senior hitter Conley contributed nine digs. Guagenti hustled up eight digs and served the only two Ada aces. Senior England knocked down three kills.
Sophomore Wills amassed three kills, nine digs and two blocks. Madison amassed four kills and two blocks. "Aubrey had a good night blocking," said Tsbor.
The Bulldogs make the long trip to first-place Paulding (4-0 NWC) Thursday night. Ada shared the NWC title with the Panthers in 2015 befofe winning the last two crowns outright.
"It was a tough loss but we are still in it (for the NWC title)," summed up Tabor. "We have to be mentally tough for Paulding."
