BC outlasts Flyers in 5 sets

WILLARD – Unfamiliar territory. Not only was going five sets unusual for Buckeye Central, winning with the lack of experience it has was even more rare. The top-seeded Buckettes did just that, grinding out a tough 25-20, 26-28, 25-18, 23-25, 15-13 win over fifth-seeded St. Paul in a Division IV district semifinal at Willard High School on Tuesday. "That was actually probably the first five-set match any of these girls have won," BC coach Missy McDougal said. "My older girls have never went that many sets when they were really good a few years ago and last year we lost a couple five-setters and to Mohawk this year. "The fact that they managed to stick together and keep playing though adversity, I'm super proud of them." The Buckettes improved to 17-7 and will face second-seeded Monroeville (18-6) at 6 p.m. Thursday for the district championship back at Willard. The two have already met this season with Buckeye Central sweeping Monroeville, 25-15, 25-16, 25-19, back on Sept. 16. "Monroeville has ruled this district for quite a few years," said McDougal of the Eagles' five straight district championships. "We know they're going to be way better than when we beat them. We think we can play better than when we beat them." The Buckettes never trailed in Set 5, but that doesn't mean it came easy against St. Paul (15-9). BC opened leads of 6-3 and 8-4. St. Paul was down 10-5 after a kill by Mara McDougal before coach Nancy Miller used a timeout. That seemed to ignite the Lady Flyers. Ryleigh Rohrbacher smacked a kill before a block by Kristin Matlack and error by BC forced a timeout. Out of the break, Bella Guerra served up an ace and Matlack and Rohrbacher combined for a block to tie the set at 11. Mia McDougal registered a kill and block though to keep the Buckettes ahead 13-11. After a St. Paul timeout, Kegney Stoll and Lily Cuturic tallied kills to again tie the set.But, Buckeye Central had the final answer. Mia McDougal smacked one final kill and an error by St. Paul won it for the Buckettes. "Buckeye Central is extremely consistent," Miller said. "We had too many unforced errors when it came down in the stretch of things." Buckeye Central led for most of the whole night. Down two sets to one, the Lady Flyers had their backs against the wall, but played well in Set 4 to extend the match. St. Paul won the first four points of the set and still led 6-2 after a Rohrbacher kill. Buckeye Central didn't do quietly, drawing back to tied scores of 11- and 12-all. From there, St. Paul used a run to go up 18-13 after an Elaina Herrig kill. The Buckettes fought back again and tied the set at 20 on a kill by Kimmy Biglin before Adrienne Jury gave BC a lead with a kill. The set was set at 22 and 23, but Matlack stuffed a block and a kill by Stoll knotted the match at two sets apiece. "It was the fight," said Miller of the difference. "If you look at us and how young we are, I was so proud of the younger kids and the way they stepped up big tonight. There were rotations where I had three freshmen, two sophomores, and a junior in the floor." Buckeye Central raced out to an 8-2 lead early in Set 1. The Lady Flyers got within three points a couple times, but the Buckettes won five straight points to go up 21-13. St. Paul made things interesting as five straight points by the Lady Flyers and later, consecutive kills by Ella Kalizewski cut the deficit to 22-20. But, kills by Jury and Mara McDougal helped BC win the first set. "AJ (Jury) had a great game," coach McDougal said. "It seemed like every tip that went over was her kill. She hit the ball and it went for a kill. We need players like that to step up. She stepped up huge." Wanting to go up 2-0, Buckeye Central was in for a challenge in Set 2. The Lady Flyers led for the first half of the set, but a run by Buckeye Central took the St. Paul led from 18-15 to a 20-18 edge for the Buckettes. BC pushed it to 23-20, but four straight points by the Lady Flyers suddenly gave St. Paul a set point. It wasn't converted and another chance at 25-24 went astray. The Buckettes had a chance up 26-25, but Shealyn Deeter lined back-to-back kills before a hitting error by BC tied the match at a set apiece. "We knew last week every match from here on out would be tough," coach McDougal said. "The girls didn't give up and I commend them for that." The Buckettes used its array of hitters to win points in bunches in Set 3. BC was up 15-9 at one point before St. Paul made a small run at the deficit. The Buckettes were too good as kills from Maren McDougal and Jury put BC up 2-1. "I was extremely proud of them for fighting the way they did tonight," Miller said. "It was actually some of the best we've maintained our level of play all season. I felt we made some adjustments and they did a really good job with that." Stoll paced St. Paul with 15 kills while Deeter finished with 13 kills. Kalizewski added 11 kills, Matlack contributed 40 assists and 18 digs, Herrig had 14 digs and 12 points served, and Cuturic racked up 46 digs for the Lady Flyers. Also for St. Paul, Guerra served for 10 points. Mia McDougal finished with 26 digs, 21 kills, and six blocks while Mara McDougal (29 digs) and Jury (four blocks) each lined 16 kills. Maren McDougal tallied a career-high 49 assists to go with 14 digs, five kills, and four blocks, Biglin added 10 digs and eight kills, Aleyse Siefert registered 13 assists, and Ella Steele contributed 11 digs. "The biggest game plan was not to serve at (Cuturic)," coach McDougal said. "I think when I look at the stats for the last three sets, she might be the only person we served to. We got away from what we wanted to do. (Cuturic) did a good job picking them up."