By Cort Reynolds
ADA - The Ada volleyball team won its second home match in three nights with a decisive sweep over visiting Arlington Thursday evening.
The 25-18, 25-20, 25-18 non-league victory upped the Lady Bulldog record to 4-2 this season. The Lady Red Devils fell to 0-5 with the defeat.
Ada trailed only once the entire match and was in control throughout. The few times Arlington pulled close, the Bulldogs managed to answer with a spurt of their own to rebuild the lead.
"I felt like we played solid," said Ada head coach Kyleigh Tabor. "We played with confidence."
Ada jumped ahead 3-0 in game one after two Miranda Wills aces and a kill from Megan Light. Arlington reeled off four straight points to take their only lead of the night, but the Bulldogs went on a 7-1 run due to a pair of Courtney Sumner aces and strong serving by Light.
The Red Devils inched within 14-12 before a Wills attack was blocked out of bounds. Wills then sliced a service winner. Sumner later resumed her strong serving with consecutive aces to stretch the margin to 22-14.
Arlington rallied withn 23-18 via a 3-0 spurt. But Kirsten Poling surprised the Devils with a quick southpaw tip instead of a set, which hit the net and dropped over to the floor.
A Red Devil then hit long to end set one for Ada, 25-18.
A mis-hit and a long rally won by the Bulldogs started the second set. Two more visitor miscues and a serve winner by Wills extended the lead to 6-1.
A clean kill by Light made it 7-2. A great save preceded a two-hand tip by Wills, followed by a well-timed Poling tip for 9-3. After a Light ace, the visitors won a long rally. Yet a Poling mis-hit trickled off the net and fell just inside the sideline for 11-5.
Arlington and Ada traded a couple of long rallies to make it 13-8. A good Lexi White serve and a mis-hit advanced the Bulldog lead to 15-8.
Arlington ran off five straight points with strong southpaw serving by Riley Launder to pull within 15-13 before an Ada timeout. A tip by Light ended the spurt, and Arlington was then in the net on an Acheson kill.
An Ada serving error made it 17-14, but the Devils hit long. A Bulldog block went out of bounds, and an ensuing missed tip pulled the visitors within 18-16. Acheson then found the back open corner with a clean, well-placed kill.
A long Devil serve and a Wills kill advanced Ada to a 21-17 edge. An Ada error was followed by a thundering Light kill off a blocker out of play. Arlington answered with a clean block to stay within 22-19.
A Wills kill hit the sideline, yet Arlington responded with a cross-court hit just inside the sideline. However, a serve in the net advanced Ada to set point.
Light's hard attack bounded off a Devil defender and into their bench to give the Bulldogs a 25-20 win and a 2-0 lead.
In set three, Ada raced to a 10-5 lead but Arlington rallied with four consecutive points. Sumner ended their run with a big kill. White then made a diving save to set up a Light kill.
White served up an ace to make it 13-9, and Acheson punctuated a long rally with a hard cross court kill. An Arlington hit dropped in off a block to make it 14-10.
Light smacked a second attack in a row inside the sideline for a clean kill. After a Devil point, Light's kill off a blocker fell in for a 16-11 cushion. The teams traded mis-hits into the net before Arlington served long.
Next, Ada served into the net. Acheson aimed a cross-court hit to the open back for a clean kill, yet Arlington won a long rally. However, three costly Devil errors made it 22-15 in favor of Ada.
After a long rally a Bulldog hit was ruled to have gone around the net pole. Ada hit long, but an Arlington error into the net moved the purple and gold to match point.
Wills then fired a serve into the middle that was not returned to clinch the match, 25-18.
Senior middle Light led Ada with a dozen kills and she also served a pair of aces. Versatile senior Wills contributed 12 digs, seven kills and five aces.
Senior Acheson hammered six clutch kills and mustered up 10 digs to go with one block. Junior Poling passed out 21 assists, hit for three kills and came up with nine digs.
Athletic sophomore Sumner hustled up 10 digs, hit four kills and dealt six aces. Junior White came up with eight digs and served one ace.
"We had another balanced attack," said Tabor.
The Bulldog reserves (3-3) lost in three sets, falling 25-10 in the decisive contest.
Ada entertains county foe Hardin Northern (0-4) Saturday, September 5. The freshman match is at 10 a.m., followed by JV and then varsity.
That will conclude a busy week of four matches in six days for the Bulldog spikers.
