DISTRICT CHAMPIONS … The North Central Lady Eagles celebrated their first District volleyball title in school history by knocking off Hilltop in five-sets. VIEW 1,364 PHOTOS OF THIS CONTEST ONLINE FOR FREE AT WWW.THEVILLAGEREPORTER.COM. (PHOTOS BY RICH HARDING, STAFF)
By: Nate Calvin
PIONEER, OHIO-After cruising to a win in the first set, North Central had to rally by winning sets four and five to win the school’s first District championship in volleyball 25-11,19-25, 19-25,25-15, 15-9.
The No. 1 seed Lady Eagles dominated the opening set aided by multiple double hits by Hilltop to race out to a 14-3 lead. A kill by North Central’s Kendal Bonney would make it 23-9 and a serving error by Hilltop would give North Central the first set win.
Hilltop regrouped in the second set as neither team could get more than a two-point lead until the Lady Cadets took a 19-16 lead following a North Central timeout. The Lady Cadets used a 6-3 run to close the set paced by several kills down the stretch by Gabby Rodriguez.
Hilltop continued the momentum into the third set and after an ace by Jayma Bailey they had built a 7-3 lead and forced a Lady Eagle timeout.
The scoring run by the Lady Cadets continued as they would take a 13-5 lead before North Central got a kill from Bonney to make it 13-6. The Hilltop lead increased to 21-12 led by solid back line play and several blocks at the net and they eventually would win the set and take a 2-1 lead.
Hilltop was able to jump out to a 7-3 lead in the fourth set with a couple kills by Rodriguez. After a timeout, North Central stormed back to grab their first lead of the set by going on an 8-3 run to go ahead 11-10.
TURNED AWAY … Hilltop’s Gabby Rodriguez blocks the kill attempt by North Central’s Kendal Bonney (#7).
The double hits that hampered Hilltop in the first set became a factor in this set also as North Central increased their lead to 21-12 on their way to squaring the match at 2-2 and forcing a fifth set to decide who goes to Regionals.
North Central quickly took control of the final set as Bonney recorded three kills to help the Lady Eagles take a 9-4 lead and force a timeout by Hilltop. The North Central lead eventually became 14-9 before a kill by Bonney would end the match and send the Lady Eagles to Elida.
Bonney finished the night with 27 kills, four blocks, 16 assists, five digs, five aces and Madison Brown added 13 kills, 31 assists, nine digs for North Central. Kassidy Faler and Alexia Miller also contributed to the Lady Eagles effort with 25 and 15 digs, respectively.
The Hilltop (18-6) attack was led by Rodriguez with 16 kills, seven blocks and Arleigh Van Arsdalen went 18/20 serving (10 points, 2 aces) while registering 18 assists.
Nate can be reached at publisher@thevillagereporter.com