MIKE MACKE
WZBD.com
BLUFFTON – Adams Central took on Bishop Luers in volleyball Thursday night at the Tiger Den in Bluffton for the opening match of 2A Sectional 37 and the Jets advanced in three straight sets 25 – 13, 25 – 19, 25 – 12.
A.C. got off to a good start in set #1, jumping out to a 7 – 1 lead on strong serving as Macy Smith had two service aces during the run. Luers battled back and got to within three at 11 – 8, mostly on the play of sophomore Grace Parent, who picked up kills from back court as well as at the net. However, the Jets outscored their opponents 14 to 5 to take the first set comfortably.
The Knights started a little better in the second set, taking a 3 – 1 lead. Adams Central responded by winning nine straight points to lead 10 – 3 and it looked like they would pull away with an easy win. Luers did not go quietly, however, and had their best stretch of play in the match, winning nine of the next ten points to take a lead at 12 – 11.
Coach Henry’s squad remained calm and stayed with their solid defense and floor play to change the momentum. At 15 – 14, the Lady Jets pulled away and took the set to go up 2 – 0.
Set number three was more of the same. The defense was relentless and the Jets simply refused to let the ball hit the floor.
The penultimate moment came when a Luers off-speed shot looked like it would find a hole. Jozie Zimmerman dove in and made the ultimate defensive hustle play as she “pancaked” the shot, which her teammates converted into a point.
Moments later, Hillary Tobias took a back set from Mati Henry and hit an off-side spike that went through the Luers block for her 1000th career kill.
The team and fans erupted as coach Henry called a timeout to allow the Adams Central faithful to celebrate the achievement. A few points later, the match belonged to the Jets.
Luers fell to 8 – 23 with the loss. Adams Central moves to 22 – 10 with the win and advances to the semi-finals on Saturday at 11:00 am. They will play Manchester for the right to play in the championship match that evening at 7:00 pm. If the Jets reach the championship match it will be broadcast live on 92.7 FM, WZBD.