NEW WASHINGTON — Having a week off can make even a good volleyball team a tad rusty.
Buckeye Central, the top seed, took a set to get going against 8th-seeded Plymouth in the Division IV sectional final Thursday night. The hosts won 25-16, 25-12, 25-8 to advance to next week’s district semifinal game.
“We haven’t played in a week,” Buckettes head coach Missy McDougal said. “I kind of expected that we’d have to work off the rust. By the third set we cleaned it up a little bit and stayed aggressive serving.”
The rust showed with Buckeye making several mental errors and allowing the Big Red to hang around in the first set. Plymouth made it 6-5 before a 19-11 run by the Buckettes ended the first set.
Kimmy Biglin, Maren McDougal, and Aleyse Siefert scored points in the first set as the Buckettes slowly got untracked.
Buckeye Central (16-7) plays fifth-seed Norwalk St. Paul (14-8) at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Willard High School in the district semifinal. The Flyers beat Seneca East in the second game 25-19, 25-12, 25-20.
No. 2 seed Monroeville (17-6) takes on No. 3 South Central (16-7) in the second game Tuesday night. Winners vie for a district title on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
“We’re going to get back in the gym tomorrow and work on some things. We got some swings at the net. We don’t want to peak right now,” McDougal said.
The second set started slowly for Buckeye, but Mia McDougal’s pair of kills made it 5-3 and Adrienne Jury added another to push the Buckeye Central lead. After cutting it to 14-10, Plymouth ran out of steam and lost, 25-12.
“We got a good start and tried to continue that run. I have eight seniors,” Big Red head coach Hannah Adams said. “It’s hard to get them to play all the time especially when I have underclassmen who are good players.”
Jaylin Branham had a couple of nice kills for Plymouth, which finishes at 6-18.
“We ended the second set, and I knew it was a long shot, so I gave those eight seniors a chance to get every minute they could that last set,” Adams said.
Buckeye Central took a 9-2 lead in the final set with Mia McDougal getting the kill and the team serving three aces in the first seven points. From there, Plymouth only managed six more points in falling 25-8.
The slow start was something McDougal was quick to identify.
“Communication. We preach communication. I didn’t get mad at the girls. They know they have to clean that stuff up,” she said.
“We know what to expect from them. We’re going to be ready to go. It’s going to take the team staying positive, working together, and doing all the little things right … not having those miscommunications and silly errors.
McDougal was glad her team took the bye, in order to get healthy.
“We’ve got too many people that are hurting. It’s been a long season and we’ve just got to try and keep everybody healthy and ready. Teams that don’t have injuries (can play), but for us I was thankful for the bye,” she said.
Buckeye will practice Friday morning and then have the weekend off before a final practice session on Monday.
“We got some people still nursing some nagging injuries. We need to keep them as healthy as we can for next week,” McDougal said. “We’ll be ready to go. We’re really excited.”
For Plymouth, Adams sees signs of growth and a young crop of upcoming talent.
“I’m very pleased with how my girls played tonight. They never gave up. I have one junior but only four returning varsitys coming back. I’ve got a very talented eighth grade class. I’ve got 12 of them coming in. I’m excited. We’re going to be young the next few years.
“I’ve been here five years and we’re finally feeling our way into competing with teams like this. We showed people we are here to compete now, and my girls have really bought into my coaching style,” Adams said.
Mara McDougal had 14 kills, 10 aces serving and 34 assists. Mia McDougal 12 kills and 19 digs. Kimmy Biglin added eight kills.