Adams Central used a thrilling victory in the opening set (30-28) to take a step forward in their hope to capture the ACAC title Tuesday, winning on the Heritage Patriots’ home court in four sets, 30-28, 25-19, 16-25, 25-20.
Meanwhile, Bellmont dropped the opening set against new sectional rival Homestead in a high-stakes home match, then stormed back to win 3-1 against the Spartans.
At South Adams, the Starfires had zero issues taking care of Southern Wells, winning in straight sets.
Lady Jets win fourth straight, open ACAC play with win over Heritage
By JUSTIN PRINCE
Adams Central 3, Heritage 1 (30-28, 25-19, 16-25, 25-20)
MONROEVILLE – The Adams Central Volleyball team opened Allen County Athletic Conference action with a 3-1 (30-28, 25-19, 16-25, 25-20) victory over Heritage on Tuesday night.
The action started with a marathon first set that saw the Jets (10-3, 1-0) win 30-28 in a back-and-forth affair to take the early lead in the match. After jumping on top early, Heritage (7-6, 0-1) rallied for six straight points to take a five-point advantage. However, the Jets would take 12 of the next 16 points to take control of the frame. The Patriots would rally, scoring four straight points to force overtime in the set before freshman Emma Hirschy was able to end the set with one of her team-high 10 kills on the night.
The second set started out just as competitive as the first, but after the Patriots were able to pull within two at 7-5, AC started to separate, taking eight of the next 10 points to take an eight-point advantage. The rest of the frame would be back-and-forth but ended with the Jets on top 25-19, giving the Jets a 2-0 advantage in the match.
Determined to not be swept, the Patriots came out swinging in the third set jumping out to a 22-12 advantage before cruising to a 25-16 victory in the frame. Junior Alana Gutshall had five of her team-high 11 kills in the frame to pull Heritage back within a set in the match.
However, the Jets would not let things get to a fifth set. After Heritage jumped out to an early 8-7 lead after taking seven straight points, the Jets responded with a big run of their own, taking seven-straight points and eight of the next 10 to take control of the set and win the frame 25-20. Junior Katie Summers punctuated a seven kill, 3.5 block night with the match-ending kill and lift Adams Central to its first ACAC win of the season.
With the win, Adams Central improves to 10-3 on the season and 1-0 in ACAC play. The Jets will visit New Haven on Thursday.
Heritage falls to 7-6 on the year and 0-1 in ACAC play and will return to action Thursday at home against Leo.
Notable Match Stats
- Adams Central
- Mati Henry – 3 kills, 1 ace
- Paige Hamilton – 7 kills, 5.5 blocks
- Maci Henry – 6 kills
- Katie Summers – 7 kills, 3.5 blocks
- Emma Hirschy – 10 kills, 2 blocks
- Heritage
- Alana Gutshall – 11 kills
- Grace Scheumann – 10 kills
- Kendall Roy – 7 kills
- Maya Ehrman – 9 kills, 3 aces
- Ava Johnson – 5 kills, 3 blocks
- Peri Fields – 6 kills, 4 blocks
Bellmont 3, Homestead 1 (24-26, 25-20, 25-21, 25-16)
Paired together in the same five-team 4A volleyball sectional, the old NHC rivalry of Bellmont and Homestead took on a new meaning Tuesday night in Decatur.
The Bellmont program hasn’t failed to win a sectional trophy in decades, but there were some questions being asked as to whether the Braves could compete in 4A for the next two years. While Saturday’s loss to HSE in straight sets makes it seem unlikely that the team can make it back to state, coach Krull’s girls showed that they are indeed the favorite in October to advance to the regional.
It took an opening-set loss at 26-24 for the Braves to really mesh and they played progressively better throughout the night against the blue and gold.
Alyssa Gumbel had an excellent night, hitting 14 kills and collecting 15 digs. She also found success at the net in the blocking game.
MaryKate Scheumann had a whopping 44 kill attempts and converted on 17 of them, showing she was the best player on the court. She was also second on the team in digs with 18.
Katie Mills had 23 digs for the Braves in the win.
South Adams 3, Southern Wells 0 (25-19, 25-8, 25-13)
The ACAC opener for the Starfires was a success and the team moved to 1-0 in the ACAC and 13-1 overall with the straight-set victory.
Reagan Bollenbacher had five aces and six kills in the win.
Middle Hitter Avery Brown finished with eight kills and four aces.
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