3-1 Win Over Kenston Clinches
For the first time since 2005, the Hilltoppers will be adding a conference championship to their volleyball banner.
Match photos click here.
For the first time since 2005, the Hilltoppers will be adding a conference championship to their volleyball banner.
Coach Alison Fisher’s squad was two games away from capturing the Western Reserve Conference title a season ago, but had to settle for a district championship, something the team was not disappointed in. This season, the Hilltoppers had two goals in mind — win the conference, win regionals.
The Hilltoppers slipped in the first set on the road, losing 25-19. After three set points, senior defensive specialist Nikki Masseria tracked down a ball, which displayed to be way out of her reach. She then hustled back onto the court to take the second ball and record an assist on the final set point.
A hitting error from the Hilltoppers allowed the Bombers to grind out set one. Masseria’s team celebrated with her, pushing her to the ground after her hustle play earned them the point, and swung the momentum the home team’s way.
Chardon’s leading attacker, junior outside hitter Emma McCartney, found her groove in the second set. The hitter forced Kenston to take a timeout after recording back-to-back kills. Kenston Coach Christian Jolley’s team responded with a point when they forced a hitting error.
The two teams were knotted up at 16 late in the second set after a Natalie Zemba kill. But three straight points were rewarded to the Hilltoppers after two recorded kills from McCartney and one from Zemba.
Then the Bombers went on a run of their own, and the Hilltoppers had to call a timeout. Their commanding second-set lead was now just one point. Coach Fisher took her final timeout of the set when Jolley’s group tied the set at 23.
Junior outside hitter Skylar Toth gave her Hilltoppers set point when she recorded a kill out of the timeout. Kenston’s Riley Rosneck pushed a tip too wide to give the Hilltoppers the point and set, 25-23.
The third set went strictly to the Hilltoppers. Coach Jolley unwillingly had to take a timeout early in the third. His Bombers faced a 6-0 deficit. That run continued with a hitting error registered by the Bombers.
A cross-court kill from junior Peyeton Pampush gave the Bombers their first point of the third set, and another hitting error stiffened the Hilltoppers’ lead to 12, when the home team took their second and final timeout of the set.
The Hilltoppers’ offense was firing on all cylinders. Chardon took an assertive set-three victory, 25-13. One set now stood in the way of the Hilltoppers and a WRC championship.
The previous set would not sit right with the Bombers. Back-to-back aces from Pampush helped extend her team’s lead to five before the Hilltoppers were compelled to call a timeout.
After the timeout, Kenston recorded a service error, giving the ball back to the Hilltoppers. Quickly, Rosneck sided out with a kill, setting her teammates up with another point.
The Hilltoppers put together an 8-3 run to force the Bombers, just one point ahead, to call a timeout.
Some play later, now trailing by three, the Bombers used their second and final timeout of the set with the match on the line. The Bombers would eventually record back-to-back errors, resulting in a 25-20 fourth-set loss.
The Hilltoppers had gotten their revenge from a season ago.
“We knew Kenston was outside strong,” said McCartney on her team’s game plan. “They would put up a really good block, so we knew we had to cover our hitters.”
Leading the way offensively for the Hilltoppers, with 28 kills, was McCartney. She also picked up 20 digs in the back row. Contributing to the offense was Toth with 10 kills and 17 digs. Zemba added nine kills in the front row, and senior setter Annabel Frieden dished out 46 assists in the win.
For the Bombers, it was junior Riley Rosneck who led the way with 14 kills. Sophomore Sadie Poudevigne added six kills. Freshman Avari Amstutz added three aces at the service line, while Pampush led the way with 11 digs. Janie Kerchenski led the team with 34 assists.
“Last year we remembered how close we were to being co-champs with them, and we lost it,” Frieden said. “This year, we wanted them to kind of feel what we felt, and we knew we could beat them. We wanted to be the only conference champs.”
With the conference win, Zemba was impressed with how her team performed.
“I’m really excited with the way we played. We’ve been in a little bit of a rut. But we played as conference champs, and I’m excited to see where we go from here,” she said.
With the win, the Hilltoppers improved to 19-2 overall and a perfect 12-0 in the WRC. They also earned the No. 2 seed in the Division One Solon Sectional.
Now the Hilltoppers look to continue their revenge tour, hoping to win a regional championship where they previously lost to Massillon Jackson.
The Bombers dropped to 16-5 with the loss, and finished 10-2 in the conference. They earned the No. 4 seed in the Division Two Jefferson Sectional behind Girard, Alliance Marlington, and Chardon’s NDCL.
