SECTIONAL CHAMPS … Joscelyn Layman keeps the ball alive for Hilltop in a sectional final win over Pettisville. (PHOTOS BY RICH HARDING / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
By: Nate Calvin
WEST UNITY (October 19, 2023) – Both sectional finals at Hilltop high School featured matchups of league foes as Hilltop took on Pettisville from the BBC in the opener and Edgerton faced Hicksville from the GMC in the night cap.
The first semifinal contest was the second meeting in as many weeks between Hilltop and Pettisville with Hilltop winning the prior contest 3-1 to clinch the BBC title.
The Cadets were out of rhythm in the first set and Pettisville took advantage as they raced to a 6-1 lead and then pushed it to 12-6, leading to a Hilltop timeout.
A 7-3 spurt by the Blackbirds increased the lead to 19-9 and after a kill from Becca Strauss it was set point for Pettisville with a 24-12 advantage.
Hilltop put together four straight points to trim the Pettisville lead to 24-16 before a point from Olivia Miller gave the Birds a 25-17 win in the opening set.
The Pettisville momentum carried over to the second set by grabbing a 6-2 lead and building the margin to 12-5, forcing a Hilltop timeout.
The Cadets came alive with the help of three kills from Libbie Baker as they went on a 9-2 run to square the set at 14.
Kills from Giada Rising and Brynn Rodriguez would give Hilltop their first lead of the night at 17-15 and the teams would go back and forth with Hilltop retaking the lead 20-19 after a Pettisville error.
The Cadets closed out the match with a 5-1 scoring surge, ending with a point from Baker to win the set and even the match at 1-1.
Hilltop would get off to their best start of the night to begin the third set as they broke away from a 2-2 tie with an 8-2 tun to take a 10-4 lead.
Pettisville clawed their way back to tie things up at 18-18 before a Strauss kill put the Blackbirds back in front at 19-18.
Hilltop responded though with six unanswered points for a 24-19 lead and would win the set 25-21.
Neither team was able to lead by more then three points in the early stages of the fourth before Hilltop grabbed an 11-10 lead followed by 6-1 run, capped off by a Baker kill, to open a 17-11 lead.
The Cadets would take a 21-15 lead and then used a 4-0 run to close out the set 25-15 and wrap-up a sectional title.
It was an all-GMC battle in game two of the night as Edgerton faced Hicksville for the second time this year, with Bulldogs winning the first meeting 3-0.
The first set was controlled by the Bulldogs with a Hicksville error giving Edgerton a 7-6 and then a 5-1 Bulldogs run made it 12-7.
Edgerton pulled away after taking a 13-9 lead as an ace by Ella Miler ended a 6-0 Edgerton spurt to give them a 19-9 lead. Leading 22-11, Kayt Timbrook served out the set to give Edgerton a 25-11 win.
A 6-0 run by the Aces behind the serving of Aubrie Baird started the second set and forced an early timeout by Edgerton.
Out of the timeout, Edgerton put together a 5-1 spurt to trim the Hicksville lead to 7-5 but the Aces had an answer with an 8-2 run to push their lead to 15-7.
CHALLENGED AT THE NET … Two Lady Aces try to deny the hitting attempt of Edgerton’s Corrine Cape.
Hicksville continued to build their lead (18-8) before capturing the set 25-16 to tie the match 1-1.
The third set saw plenty of momentum swings as Edgerton took a 9-5 lead before Hicksville responded with a 6-2 surge to tie the set at 11-11 and forcing an Edgerton timeout.
Edgerton would eventually hold an 18-17 lead and then score six straight points to move to within one point of winning the set at 24-17.
The Aces didn’t go quietly as they strung together a 6-0 run to close to within 24-23 but a Hicksville hitting error ended the set to give Edgerton a 2-1 lead.
After a back-and-forth start to the fourth set, the Bulldogs engineered a 5-1 run to push a 6-5 lead to 11-6.
Hicksville fought back scoring seven of the next nine points to deadlock things at 13-13. Alivia Farnham fronted a 5-1 Edgerton run as she delivered back-to-back kills for a 19-14 lead.
Edgerton ended the match with a 6-2 run as Corrine Cape hammered a kill for the final point of the night to send Edgerton to the districts.
No. 2 Hilltop will face No. 3 Edgerton in the second Division IV district semifinal at Defiance High School on Tuesday, October 24.
The first semifinal of the night will pit top seeded Ayersville against No. 7 Montpelier starting at 6pm. The winners will meet back at Defiance on October 26 in the district finals.
Hilltop d. Pettisville 16-25, 25-20, 25-21, 25-15
Pettisville (13-11) – Amanda Grimm: 43/44 setting, 20 assists; Grace Hastings: 52/52 setting, 15 assists, 10 digs; Susan Ringler: 17 digs
Hilltop (21-2) – Eleana VanArsdalen: 15/16 serving (7 points), 11 digs, 67/67 setting, 19 assists; Brynn Rodriguez: 21/23 serving (16 points), 6 aces, 12 digs, 23/26 hitting, 10 kills; Libbie Baker: 10 digs, 47/53 hitting, 26 digs
Edgerton d. Hicksville 25-11, 19-25, 25-23, 25-16
Hicksville (12-11) – no statistics
Edgerton (16-8) – Casey Everetts: 34 digs, 17/19 serving; Ava Swank: 120/122 setting, 51 assists; Corrine Cape: 16 digs, 13 kills; Kayt Timbrook: 22 digs, 8 kills; Alivia Farnham: 32/36 hitting, 25 kills, 18/20 serving
Nate can be reached at sports@thevillagereporter.com