NORTH ROBINSON — Another hot season of Northern 10 Athletic Conference volleyball got under way Tuesday night.
Ohio 602 rivals Buckeye Central (3-0, 1-0) and Colonel Crawford (3-1, 0-1) were both undefeated entering their league opener at Mac Morrison Gymnasium.
Missy McDougal’s squad raced out to an early lead at 7-1 and took the first set 25-16. The visitors overcame an early deficit to capture the second set 25-21 and 25-17 in the third.
Leading the way for the young Buckettes was freshman Maren McDougal’s serving.
“Maren went back there and had a phenomenal run. She did a great job placing the ball, and that was the momentum swing we needed,” McDougal said.
She had four straight aces in that pivotal second set. That gave BC a 22-19 lead after trailing 19-13 at one point.
“She’s by far our best server. When we can get her on those long runs it helps the team. She’s put a lot of time into it, so it’s nice to see her having success back there behind the line,” McDougal said.
Against River Valley the youngest of three sisters on the BC roster had 16 aces.
“We have very little experience, so this is huge,” she said. “We’re capable of great things this year. It’s just trying to convince them we can play with anybody.”
In the first set key plays by Mia McDougal and Kimmy Biglin provided a spark. That offset solid efforts by Rylee Ritzhaupt and Abby Martin along the net.
Colonel Crawford coach Taylor (Kelso) Heiby thought her team played well, but mentally let down.
“Literally one of the first things I said was we cannot let the jersey name get in our heads. Unfortunately, it did. We beat ourselves. Lots and lots of errors,” Heiby said.
BC rallied from a 19-13 deficit in the second set with 9 straight points and an 11-1 run that led to the win.
“We have to control the game. We are a very good team. We have to control it and we didn’t control it the first set or that third set. The second set we had full control, and then we relaxed and let them get back into it and beat us,” Heiby said.
“Buckeye Central is a good team. I told the girls during the time out, do not relax, do not relax. They don’t make a lot of errors and when we make the errors that’s when it happens.
“This is definitely the fastest speed of the game we’ve played so far. It’s early in the season and we’ve got lots to improve on and we’ll definitely see them again.”
Crawford fought back to make it 22-17 but could get no closer.
A win against a solid team will go a long way toward the Buckettes’ confidence.
“We’ve got moments where we are getting frustrated and getting upset because they are young,” McDougal said. “They did a great job the last two games where we’ve been behind, and they’ve come together. That’s a great sign for a young team.”
Kennedy Deppen is the lone senior on the squad.
“We’re not supposed to peak. We are just young, with only two girls with any varsity experience. That’s a huge difference from last year,” McDougal said.
“I look forward to seeing how we continue to improve as the season goes on.”
The Buckettes won the junior varsity contest in two sets, 25-18, 25-19.