FIVE-SET THRILLER … Stryker’s Kenzie Clemens sets the ball during the Panthers’ five-set home win over North Central.
PHOTOS BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
KILL ATTEMPT … Cailyn Meyers (#3) of North Central tries to spike it with Stryker’s Khloe Goebel providing the defense.
By: Jesse Davis
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
jesse thevillagereporter.com
STRYKER (October 2, 2025) – The Stryker Panthers went down two sets to one before staging a hard-fought comeback to narrowly defeat the North Central Eagles 3-2 in Stryker Thursday night.
Play started neck and neck, with Stryker and North Central tying nine times on the way to 11-11, including a kill by junior Aubrey Clemens and one by freshman Kenzie Clemens for the Panthers and one by Eagles junior Anna Burt.
A tip by Aubrey and a score by freshman Khloe Goebel then gave the Panthers a lead they would hold and extend all the way to the end of the set.
After a North Central point and another two by Stryker – both via solid blocking, the teams traded points up to 20-16. The Panthers took five out of the next six points, including a kill by senior Allie Ruffer. Two points by the Eagles were matched by Stryker to close out the first set, 25-19.
The second set was defined by tenacious play by both teams, with several points seeing multiple wild and successful saves by both teams.
They tied at two and three points before North Central went up 7-4 due in part to an ace by Burt and a kill by senior Rylee Walker, but Stryker came right back with their own three-point run to tie it back up at seven.
After another tie at eight, the Panthers took their turn in the lead, going up 12-9 on, among other points, another kill by Aubrey Clemens. This time, the Eagles came from behind with a three-point run to tie it at 12.
Pitched battles for each point resulted in yet another Aubrey Clemens’ kill as well as faults and many balls hit out of bounds as the teams fought to 19-17, when North Central went on a seven-point run, including a successful tip by senior Cailyn Meyers to bring up 24-19. The teams traded another point each for the Eagles to take the set 25-20.
The Eagles took control early in the third set, going up 11-5 with standout action coming via a kill by sophomore Kenzie Hickman and another by Meyers.
The Panthers fought back hard, working back to within one point at 15-14 thanks to multiple successful attacks and failures by the Eagles to keep the ball in bounds.
Kills by junior Anna Donovan and senior Abigail Oberlin kept Stryker in the chase even as North Central pushed their own score forward to 20-18, when they went on a five-point run to seal the set victory 25-18 and a 2-1 lead on the match.
Stryker entered the fourth set ready to get back in the action, starting with a kill on the first point by senior Reiss Creighton and recovering after a serve into the net with a five-point run to go up 6-1.
A pair of kills by Meyers and an unreturned serve from Hickman aided in the Eagles’ cutting the lead down to 7-6.
The teams raided single points followed by three-point runs, including another two Meyers kills as well as an ace by Stryker senior Abigail Oberlin, put the score at 11-10, with continued play leading to a tie at 13.
The Panthers would go on to take four out of the next five points in long battles as each team refused to give up any points without a fight.
A five-point North Central run was followed by a point being replayed as they took the lead 19-17. The lead was short-lived, as Stryker added their own four-point run, including an Oberlin kill and a fault for too many touches by North Central.
The Eagles stayed close, but were unable to overcome the Panthers’ lead, with the home team taking the fourth set in a narrow 25-21 victory.
The fifth and final set saw the teams tie four times on the way to 5-5. As play continued, both teams scored on shots by players reaching over the net to hit the ball on the other side, as well as both teams hitting into the net as the Panthers took an 8-7 lead.
Stryker put together a four-point run along with other scoring to push to a 13-9 lead, when North Central appeared to turn it around with their own four-point run, tying the game at 15.
But the Panthers held on with a surprise tip when the Eagles were expecting the player to set, with the final set, and the match, lost by North Central due to a fault to end the set 15-12 and the match 3-2.