By Cort Reynolds
NEW KNOXVILLE – The Ada High School volleyball team lost an epic five-set heartbreaker to county rival Hardin Northern in Div. VII Northwest 3 sectional first round action Thursday night at New Knoxville.
The Bulldogs lost the first set, but then captured the next two in close battles to seize a 2-1 lead. Yet HN rallied to win set four and pulled out the tight, decisive fifth game in extra time, 18-16.
Fourth-seeded Ada ended its season 11-12 after the tough 25-15, 23-25, 22-25, 25-18, 18-16 defeat.
Fifth seed HN improved to 15-7 with the hard-fought win. The Polar Bears finished in a tie with Elgin at 8-1 to share the NWCC championship, but HN won the tie-breaker since they beat the visiting Comets 3-1 head-to-head on Oct. 10.
“It was a hard-fought battle,” said veteran Ada head coach Kyleigh Woodruff. “Both teams had great defense and fought for every point. There were lots of long rallies and intensity throughout.
”It definitely is a tough loss after fighting so hard, but I am extremely proud of the team for playing as hard as we did, and not giving up,” she continued.
“We worked together as a team and I am very proud of the hustle, teamwork and intensity that we had. Both teams battled, especially at the end of set five,” she added.
HN advances to face top-seeded New Knoxville in the district semifinals at Shawnee Monday, Oct. 21 at 6 p.m.
NK (13-10) swept Ridgemont 25-10, 25-5, 25-6 in their first round match.
Ada senior Tess Griffith hammered nine kills and hustled her way to 19 digs.
Junior Anna Conley fashioned 11 kills and added three blocks.
Sophomore Brooklyn Andreasen knocked down eight kills and came up with five blocks. Sophomore Dailah Preston smacked eight kills and made a pair of blocks.
Senior libero Jenna Bassitt mustered a season-high 48 digs to end her career with a program record total of 1,076.
Sophomore Jaylin St. Laurent passed out a career-high 39 assists, and she hustled up 18 digs.
Senior Natilyn McClain hustled up 14 digs. Sophomore Alivia Gibson drilled six kills.
Junior Alyssa Madison came up with 10 digs. Senior Kennedy Jones served one ace.
The HN hitting attack was led by Baylie Bacon with 15 kills, and she added eight digs. Addy Bacon knocked down 13 kills, and came up with six digs.
Polar Bear setter Kendall Frank passed out 36 assists and made 23 digs.
HN’s Lainey Thomas mustered up 33 digs. Lexi Oakley hustled up 12 digs,
and Kaitlyn Whitaker added nine digs.
Versatile Bear Catherine Overs contributed nine kills, 16 digs and two aces.
Heidi Trachsel smacked four kills and came up with two blocks. Morgan Stewart contributed three kills and one block.
Frank and Thomas were recently named first team All-NWCC for HN. Overs and Addy Bacon were voted second team all-league, while Trachsel and Baylie Bacon made honorable mention all-conference.
It was the last Ada match for seniors Griffith, Bassitt, Jones, McClain and injured Belah Price.
