By Cort Reynolds
ADA - The host Ada volleyball team lost in straight sets to Lima Central Catholic in a non-league match Tuesday night.
The 25-15, 25-10, 25-17 defeat dropped the Lady Bulldog overall record to 7-8. LCC won behind strong serving and powerful hitting to improve to 8-7.
"Our serve receive wasn't as strong as in the past," said Bulldog third-year head coach Kyleigh Tabor said. "But LCC had a lot of good servers. They kept us off balance with their serves.
"Our blocking was off, we had zero blocks in the match," Tabor added. "They had some good outside hitters who put the ball away, and they killed us on tips."
LCC ran out to a 5-1 lead in set one with good serving from Zoey Foster. The Thunderbirds stretched the margin to 12-3 before Ada ran off three points. But LCC responded with an 8-2 flurry ended by a Courtney Sumner kill to the back row at 20-9.
A big kill by Bulldog Megan Light ricocheted into the stands to make it 22-11. Ada won a long rally, and Thunderbird Grace Hutjens hit an opening in the back row.
A Bulldog error pushed the ball wide before Light executed a kill off a blocker. Another Light smash staved off a second set point at 24-14. Ada senior Leona Dalton fired a clean ace. But the purple and gold was then called for being in the net to lose game one, 25-15.
LCC led 3-0 to start set two as Foster served all the points and Kennedy Parker authored a clean kill to the open back. An error and a good hit by Bulldog Kylie Acheson cut it to 3-2. A Light cross court kill made it 4-3, but then Ada served long.
Four Bulldog miscues extended the lead to 8-3 before stopping the spurt with a dink and a service winner from Light. But a serve into the net stopped the Ada momentum.
A T-Bird ace, followed by a clean kill to the open corner and an error, gave LCC a 13-6 margin. Another mis-hit and four winning serves by Jaylen Roehm extended the margin to 18-6.
LCC won three rallies in a row to advance the lead to 21-6 before Roehm finally served long after scoring 11 consecutive points. Lexi White served two points in a row for Ada, but an error made it 22-9.
The T-Birds won a joust at the net on a tip, and a mis-hit advanced them to set point. Wills saved one point with a lunging kill. But LCC closed the set out, 25-10.
In game three, Ada scored first to take its initial lead of the match. A huge Wills smash made it 2-1. Sumner launched an ace that clipped the back line, followed by another good serve for a 5-1 lead.
A clean cross court kill by LCC was followed by a T-Bird attack that hit the back line. Light's kill deflected off a block onto the visitors side for a 6-3 lead.
A rotation error cost Ada a point, and then LCC pulled ahead by seven with an 11-1 spurt as Faith Parker served several points in a row. She finally served long to end the run at 14-8.
LCC hit wide and an Acheson ace cut the deficit to 14-10. The teams traded tip dinks to make it 15-11. Another tip by Abby Watkins and a Bulldog hit sailed long to extend it to 17-11.
The T-Birds served long and then hit into the net as the Bulldogs inched within 17-13. LCC won the next point at the net, yet Acheson fired a clean kill.
A Bulldog mis-hit and an LCC tip kill on a short serve return made it 20-14. Acheson then hit the back line with a hard smash. LCC hit into the net, and Light sliced a kill off a T-Bird block out of play for another point.
But LCC stopped the run with a kill for a 21-17 edge. A lunging save earned the T-Birds a surprising point. Ada hit wide twice in a row to reach match point.
Roehm then clinched the match with a clean cross court kill to the open back corner, 25-17.
Senior Light led Ada with nine kills. Senior Wills contributed seven digs and 10 assists. Setter Kirsten Poling missed her second match in a row with illness.
Senior Acheson mustered six digs and knocked down four kills.
Sophomore Sumner hustled up a dozen digs and served two aces.
Ada sophomore Emilee Huffer made her varsity debut, and freshman defensive specialist Olivia Burkhart saw her first extensive varsity action. Burkhart amassed eight digs.
The Bulldog reserves lost a tight match in the third set 25-21 to drop to 4-11.
The Bulldogs (4-4 home) host league-leader Crestview (10-4, 5-0 NWC) Thursday, October 1. It will be their seventh match in 12 days. The JV match starts at 5:30 p.m.
"It will be a tough one vs. Crestview," said Tabor.
