WORKING TOGETHER … Stryker’s Reiss Creighton sets up Aubrey Clemens for a spiking attempt.
PHOTOS BY RENEA KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
HILLTOP JUNIOR … Kennedy Bailey hits the ball over the net in Hilltop’s critical win at Stryker.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse@thevillagereporter.com
STRYKER (September 25, 2025) – After a hard-fought squeaker of a first set, the Hilltop Cadets managed solid victories in two more for a 3-0 sweep of the Stryker Panthers in volleyball play Thursday evening.
The battle was pitched during the first set, with each team racking up a four-point run and tying seven times on their way to tying eight at 15-15.
During the early scoring, Cadet senior Brynn Rodriguez earned three kills and Hayden JoHantgen notched two, while the Panthers scored on two kills from junior Aubrey Clemens, one from senior Allie Ruffer, and a pair of aces from senior Reiss Creighton.
Hilltop started to pull away with four more points – including another kill by Rodriguez – for a total run of six and score of 19-15.
Not content to watch the set slip away, Stryker went on to earn eight out of the next 11 points courtesy of several faults, one good block, and a kill by Clemens, taking the lead, 23-22.
The opponents continued to battle back and forth, tying at 23, 24, and 25, before surviving long enough to see two Panther errors to give them the set, 27-25.
Despite giving up the first point, the Cadets would take an early lead in the second set by earning eight out of the next 10 points, with Rodriguez turning in another kill, along with one by junior Kelsy Connolly, to bring the score to 8-3.
Each team earned another six points as the Panthers refused to give in, earning a kill from senior Abigail Oberlin and two from sophomore Anna Donovan on their way to 14-9. Hilltop turned it on with a four-point run, which saw two more Rodriguez kills.
The Panthers would only put two more points on the board, not through faults, with one kill each by Donovan and freshman Khloe Goebel. In the meantime, the gritty Hilltop team fought for every point, in the end taking the second set 25-18.
The third set started out much like the first, with Hilltop and Stryker tying at every point up to four. Rodriguez logged two more kills in the battle, while the Panthers spread their scoring around, with kills by Ruffer, Clemens, and Donovan.
For the rest of the match, the two teams traded shots, with each team putting together several two-point runs and one three-point run each.
Several Cadets earned kills throughout, with Rodriguez earning four and Connolly posting a kill and an ace. Clemens was the Panther standout, posting three kills.
Despite their efforts, the Panthers couldn’t keep up with the Cadets, who slowly pushed their lead to 24-19 before a Stryker fault ended the set and handed Hilltop the match, 3-0.