The Ada golf team finished seventh out of 13 teams in the Div. III golf sectionals at Sycamore Springs Golf Course on September 30 to conclude its season on an upswing.
Allen East won the sectional crown with a team score of 337. Van Buren was second (341) and Bluffton third (346).
Ada came in a seventh with 427 strokes to register its best sectional showing in years.
Bulldog senior Dexter Woods shot a 49-53=102 18-hole score to tie for 24th and pace Ada. He finished seven strokes off district qualification.
Senior Andrew Rush finished right behind him in 27th with a 54-49=103. Junior Geddes Klingler posted a 54-55=109 to end up 35th.
The young Ada volleyball team played well but lost a close four-setter to Delphos Jefferson in a Northwest Conference clash Tuesday night, September 28.
After Ada knotted the match at one set apiece, DJ rallied late to win two straight overtime sets to pull out the tight victory.
The Lady Bulldogs dropped to 2-14 overall and 0-5 in the NWC with the 25-18, 22-25, 26-24, 28-26 defeat.
DJ improved to 5-10 and 1-3 in the NWC with the hard-fought win.
The Bulldog girls knocked down a season-high 46 kills, but also committed 39 costly hitting errors.
The Ada boys soccer team lost 8-2 at home to state-ranked Northwest Conference rival Bluffton Tuesday night, September 28, at War Memorial Stadium.
The Bulldogs dropped to 3-5-3 overall and 0-2-1 in NWC play with the defeat. The Pirates, 10th in the Div. III state rankings, improved to 8-2 and 3-0 in the NWC with the win.
The six-time defending NWC champion Pirates have won 33 league matches in a row.
Kaden Basil tallied the first goal 40 seconds into the match on a Jude Spallinger assist. Nolan Hoffman then put Bluffton ahead 2-0 on a goal at the 5:45 mark from Basil.
Ada sophomore Jillian Hazelton competed at the Van Wert County Health Cross Country Invitational meet Saturday, September 25.
Due to team illnesses, she was the lone Bulldog able to participate.
Hazelton finished 99th out of 112 runners in the girls race. She covered the 3.1-mile course in 28:41.7.
"Despite not being her best time of the season, I'm so glad to see Jilli consistently well under the 30-minute mark this year because last year our goal was always trying to break 30," said Ada head coach Josh Klein.
Injury-plagued Ada battled well but dug too big of an early deficit and lost 47-21 at Delphos Jefferson in a Northwest Conference bout Saturday night, September 25, at Stadium Park.
DJ raced to a 34-0 lead on the strength of several big plays and Bulldog turnovers. But inexperienced yet spunky Ada refused to fold, outscoring the Wildcats 21-13 over the final 25 minutes.
The Bulldogs fell to 1-5 and 0-3 in the NWC with the defeat.
Jefferson improved to 3-3 and 1-2 in league play with the win.
"We are young and made a lot of mistakes," said first-year Ada head coach Toby Smith. "We are getting better, but we have to quit giving up huge plays."
