By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
BRYAN (September 6, 2025) – Hilltop and Bryan went the distance in their volleyball match Saturday with the Cadets pulling out a thrilling 25-20, 16-25, 25-16, 18-25, 15-8 victory over the host Golden Bears.
After splitting the first four sets, the Cadets (6-2) would take advantage of their frontcourt play of 6-0 senior middle hitter Brynn Rodriguez, 5-5 junior outside hitter Hallie Jones and 5-7 junior setter Kelsy Connolly in the decisive fifth game.
Trailing 2-0 in the fifth game, Rodriguez came through with several kills and a serve receive by Jones had pushed Hilltop in front, 12-4, before Bryan’s Ava Neubig ended the Cadets’ 7-0 run with an attack.
Connolly delivered another attack point and Hayden JoHantgen followed with a tip at the net as Hilltop went up 14-5.
Bryan managed to get a pair of attacks from Kelsie Thiel and Nora Kunsman to make it 14-8 before the Cadets finally got the final point of the match to finish it out.
“In that fifth set when you only go to 15 points, it’s really important to get a quick start and to build that lead because it just goes to 15 and it goes so quickly,” said Hilltop head coach Janice Bruner.
In the opening set, Rodriguez and JoHantgen both dominated the net with numerous tips, and the Cadets had an eight-point lead, 20-12, before Bryan was able to claw back into it on a serve point by Thiel.
“She’s (Rodriguez) definitely one of our players up front that we rely on heavily when she crosses the three-rotation across the front,” said the Hilltop coach. “So, when she goes back and has that aggressive serve, it helps us too.”
Hilltop was able to close it out with Myah Higgins scoring on a tip and Jones followed with an attack point for a 25-20 win.
The Bears controlled the second set with Neubig and Alea Shilling contributing at the net as Bryan led by as many as eight points. Neubig closed it out for Bryan with a kill to win the second set, 25-16.
“Bryan is much improved, we scrimmaged them earlier in the preseason,” commented Bruner. “I think they do a nice job with their offense and a quicker speed offense with it. We were just able to take advantage of some different things today.”
Again, the Cadets relied upon Brynn Rodriguez in the third set recording several points at the net and Hilltop went on to win, 25-16, in the third set.
Bryan jumped out to a 20-15 lead on a serve point by Jozie Cordy. A block by Thiel followed and a pair of attacks by Kunsman gave the Bears a 25-18 triumph in the fourth set.
“I thought we played well in the first set and then Bryan started to playing better in the second set,” said Hilltop head coach Janice Bruner.
“Between our passing and digging, I think our back row kids did really well. (Brooklyn) Kuszmaul, (Hallie) Jones did a really good job back there today.”