By Cort Reynolds

ADA - With a piece of the league title on the line for the visitors, the Ada volleyball team hosted Columbus Grove in a tense Northwest Conference and regular season finale on a steamy Tuesday night.
It turned out to be the best match of the season, as Grove rallied with a late 7-1 spurt to finish the fifth and final set narrowly on top, 15-12.
With the pressure to win the conference championship building on the road, determined senior Haley Radabaugh smashed four kills amid the last five CG points to carry the red and gray to a piece of the NWC title.
Defending its league crown, Ada played very well. But the three-time defending champion purple and gold lost the seesaw battle on Senior Night 25-23, 21-25, 24-26, 25-17, 15-12. They finish the regular season 11-11 and 4-4 in NWC play, good for fifth place.
With the win, CG improved to 16-5 and clinched a share of the NWC title at 7-1 with Crestview. Paulding lost 3-1 to Lincolnview Tuesday night to fall out of first and finish in a tie for third at 6-2 with the Lancers.
"It was a great match," said Ada head coach Kyleigh Tabor. "They served more aggressively at the end. I told the girls we need to play with a 'have nothing to lose' mindset and lay it all out there.
"We had a lead in the fifth set but could not finish," she added. "The three seniors all played well."
Seniors Raina England, Rilan Conley and Morgan Swick each played their final home match for Ada in a valiant effort.
Grove trailed two sets to one and 14-12 in game four before they turned it up a notch when they absolutely had to. Senior Rylee Sybert ignited a 9-1 rally with two kills and junior Cassie Hellman capped it with a left-handed tip.
Ada stemmed the rally briefly when sophomore Aubrey Madison placed a kill to the open back, and senior Raina England hit the back line with an outside attack.
But CG ran off the next three points, punctuated by a big slam from senior Payton Brubaker on set point, for a 25-17 win.
In the decisive fifth set, Ada sophomore Megan Light had two early kills to provide a 2-1 lead. CG pulled in front 5-3 after a pair of Hellman kills.
At 6-6 the teams battled it out in the longest rally of the match, which Ada won when England's hit off a blocker fell in.
"There were some long points in the match; it was good volleyball," noted Tabor.
An ace by Conley and a Grove error gave Ada 9-6 lead, capping a 6-1 flurry. Two Ada hitting errors made it 9-8 but CG served into the net. Another Grove hit sailed wide for an 11-8 Ada margin.
CG junior Angel Schneider then came up with a clutch that dropped in off an Ada blocker. Radabaugh rose up to slam a clean cross-court kill, then added another smash that ricocheted out of bounds off an Ada block to tie it 11-11.
Tabor called timeout but Ada hit into the net to fall a point behind. Brubaker then came up with a clean tip for a 13-11 lead, yet the ensuing serve into the net kept Ada alive down just 13-12.
But Radabaugh turned the momentum back in Grove's favor with another left outside smash down the sideline that found the floor. "We could not cover the sideline," said Tabor.
On match point, CG went to their clutch senior and she delivered again with a kill down the sidleine to finish the tense match and give Grove a heard-earned share of the league championship.
Game one was a close, back and forth affair. Two kills by Hellman, followed by a clean kill and an ace from Radabaugh, gave CG a 10-6 lead. Ada rallied back behind Miranda Wills and Light, and tied it 15-all when Conley's kill off a blocker dropped in.
CG put together an 8-3 spurt on the strength of clean klls from Sybert, Hellman and Schneider. A Radabaugh smash was blocked out of bounds to earn CG a set point.
Light came up with a tip and then a hard smash that bloodied the nose of the Grove libero, necessitating a delay of several minutes at 24-21. When play resumed, two CG hitting errors closed the gap to 24-23.
After a timeout Radabaugh then came up with a clean kill from her outside left spot to win the set, 25-23.
Ada held a close lead throughout much of set two. Light hit for three kills. Aubrey Madison served an ace and hit a kill to keep the hosts in front, 15-13.
Ada then won a long rally, and CG hit into the net. Conley hammered a clean kill to the open back for an 18-13 cushion. Shortly afterward, Light knocked down a kill. Conley placed a clean attack to the open spot after a nice saving dig by Kendal Guagenti kept the point alive for a 20-18 edge.
Two CG errors and a Conley kill off a blocker advanced Ada to a 24-19 lead as Wills served three straight points. England then closed it out 25-21 with a well-placed kill to the open middle.
Ada inched in front 8-6 to open set three. The hosts Bulldogs then reeled off a 9-1 run to take a commanding 15-7 margin. Grove responded with a 9-3 splurge behind Brubaker to inch within 18-16.
An ace by senior Abigail Gladwell trickled over off the top of the net to give CG a 20-19 lead. Yet Ada rallied back to 23-23 after a Light kill.
Schneider's kill got CG to set point at 24-23, but Light answered with a hit that fell in off a blocker to stave off defeat and tie it up.
Guagenti fired a clutch, low-flying ace to give Ada the lead. Guagenti then served it out when Grove hit long to win the game, 26-24.
Fired up after the tough loss, Grove came out strong in set four with a 6-3 lead. But a southpaw tip by England and a CG error helped resilient Ada edge in front, 8-7.
Two Light kills and a Swick ace put the hosts on top 14-12 before CG caught fire with its back to the wall. An ace by Radabaugh put CG in front 15-14, and they never looked back.
Two straight clean kills by Hellman were followed by consecutive cross-court winners by Sybert for a 20-15 lead. CG then finished the set out on a 13-3 run to set up the dramatic fifth game.
In the decider, Grove authored the final run behind Radabaugh and won it by three. Ultimately, CG had a little too much height, experience and hitting balance for Ada. Grove won in total points over the close five-set battle, 110-103.
"I am very proud of all the girls, they played really well," said Tabor.
Sophomore Light led the Ada hitters with 18 kills. Junior setter Sidney Gossard doled out 32 assists and came up with 14 digs.
The versatile Conley knocked down six kills, hustled up 23 digs and served three aces.
England drilled a season-best nine kills. "Raina had her best match of the season," noted Tabor.
Swick came up with 20 digs. Sophomores Wills made 24 digs and Guagenti hustled up 18 digs. Classmate Madison added two blocks.
"Kendal played very solid defense," said Tabor.
CG handed Crestview its lone league loss 3-1 on September 11 in the league opener. Paulding beat Grove 3-1 for the only CG league loss two days later.
But the previously 6-0 Panthers lost their last two NWC matches to Crestview and Lincolnview to fall from first to third. Ada had its three-year reign as NWC champs ended.
After getting a first round bye, third seed Ada will have a nine-day layoff before it plays in sectional second round action at Arlington against either Ridgemont or Cory-Rawson.
Ada beat Cory 2-1 early this season, but did not play the Gophers. The winner will almost certainly face top seed Arlington in the district semis at Findlay. The Bulldogs won the Ottawa district crown last fall.
"I am looking forward to the tournament," said Tabor. "Everyone is 0-0 and it is single elimination. We just have to take it one match at a time."