By Cort Reynolds
ADA __ The Ada High School volleyball team hosted and swept a non-league triangular match Saturday, August 24, vs. Waynesfield-Goshen and Spencerville.
The Bulldogs beat the Bearcats 25-22, 25-18 and then defeated W-G 25-16, 25-20 to improve their record to 2-1 this season.
W-G is 1-3 after a 25-16, 25-19 defeat of Spencerville, which dropped to 0-3.
“We got off to a slow start but then picked up our serve receive and defense,” said Ada head coach Kyleigh Woodruff of the Bearcat match. “Spencerville had more energy early. But I am proud of the win and how we came back.”
Anna Conley led the Ada offense with nine kills, and she added two blocks. Tess Griffith hustled up 11 digs, served six aces and hit one kill. Brooklyn Andreasen hammered six kills. Dailah Preston and Alainee Buxton each smacked three aces.
Buxton and Jayin St. Laurent passed out seven assists apiece, while Kennedy Jones had five assists. Jenna Bassitt mustered 10 digs and Alyssa Madison added five digs.
In the final match vs. Waynesfield, Ada raced to a 9-2 lead in set one as Bassitt served eight consecutive points. W-G inched within 16-12, but two Griffith aces and a Conley two-hand push shot to the open corner extended the margin to 22-14.
A Conley kill advanced Ada to game point, where they clinched it on a hitting error by a 25-16 count.
Set two was close most of the way, with the Bulldogs inching within 10-9 on an Andreasen sideline tip. A block kill by Preston and two Griffith aces highlighted a 5-0 spurt and put Ada in front 14-12.
W-G rallied back in front 16-15, but the tight set was tied at 16, 17 and 18-all before Ada took control with a 7-2 closing flurry.
Two big kills by Andreasen ignited the winning run. Two Tiger service errors and an ace by the hard-serving Griffith put the Bulldogs on top, 23-20.
Preston smacked a clean kill inside the backline to reach match point. A line-drive Griffith serve off a Tiger returner closed the match with a 4-0 spurt, 25-20.
“I feel like we played a strong match,” said Woodruff. “We came back and fought. Tess had good serve placement. I think we kept their big hitters out of the match; we kept them off balance by serving well.”
Conley and Andreasen topped Ada with six kills apiece vs. the Tigers. Preston contributed five kills. Bassitt mustered 10 digs, and Conley added five. St. Laurent passed out eight assists while Buxton doled out six helpers.
Griffith fired six aces and came up with nine digs. Alivia Gibson hit two kills.
Ada hosts Perry Tuesday, August 27 in their fourth straight home match to start the season.
