Stars stumble in tourney final

MONROEVILLE — The Starfires played well from behind in the semifinal.
They just couldn’t do it again during the final against a team that hit accurately.
The South Adams High School volleyball team lost in straight sets, 25-15, 25-16, to the host Heritage Patriots in the Allen County Athletic Conference tournament championship on Thursday.
“They had one of those games where they couldn’t miss,” SAHS coach Ashley Buckingham, whose top-seeded Starfire team defeated defending tournament champion Jay County in the semifinal earlier in the evening, said of host Heritage. “They didn’t have mistakes. They didn’t have errors and they played a pretty perfect game.
“Every once in awhile you have those games where you play out of your mind and tonight was their night.”
Heritage, which defeated Woodlan in its semifinal, got revenge against the Starfires (20-8) for the five-set loss during the regular season. Freshman Maggie Castleman — she was named the tournament’s most valuable player — had a team-high nine kills against the Starfires.
Buckingham said the youngster was the difference this time around than when the two teams played Sept. 15 in Berne.
“This was her best game that I remember,” said Buckingham, whose team was a perfect 6-0 in ACAC play during the regular season. “I think she played a great match tonight.”
Along with senior Taylor Jacquay, Castleman and the rest of the Patriots used runs of six and five points respectively for a commanding 19-9 advantage in the opening set. Castleman had a block and two kills in the first streak. Alivia Beard and Jacquay had kills to help Heritage in the second stretch of points.
Heritage’s offense was able to keep South Adams on its heels for most of the match, forcing the the Starfires into guessing as to whether the hitters were going to swing away or tip it over the block. Buckingham stressed that it was a result of the team needing to be stronger mentally.
“We have to get mentally tough,” Buckingham said. “We have physical tools, our mental game just has to match them.
“Tonight they controlled the points and that’s why they walked away with more.”
South Adams junior Madi Wurster had a pair of kills early in the second set, helping the Starfires to a 5-1 lead. But two Castleman kills, an Ace from Taylor Zelt, a Jacquay block and a SAHS attack error helped the home team come roaring back to tie the score at six apiece.
Wurster (25 kills, 13 digs and two blocks) notched a kill out of the break and Addie Wanner (11 kills, six blocks) recorded a kill to get the Starfires on top 8-6.
The advantage was short lived, as Castleman had a kill then consecutive aces to put the Patriots on top for good.
After South Adams took the first set of the semifinal match 25-19, defending champion Jay County evened the match by winning the second by the same score. But the Patriots simply couldn’t slow down Wurster in the third, as the towering lefty had four kills to help the Starfires jump out to a 10-3 lead.
“They are going to get their kills, and that’s what I told them in practice,” said JCHS coach Fred Medler, whose team lost to the Starfires in three sets on Sept. 20 in Portland. “(Wurster) is going to bury some balls but we can’t let them intimidate us.
“We had her positioned good … We played better against their bigs. We grew up a whole lot on that part of the game.”
The Patriots and Starfires often played to lengthy points, with the defense of each team coming up with crucial digs to keep the ball alive. Starfire senior Caralie Farlow led the squad with 31 total digs, and libero Shania Neal added 28.
“What you hope for is we don’t pass the ball too tight to the net or we set the ball too tight,” Medler said. “Or, we give them such an easy thing to handle that their setter can handle it and throw it up to their bigs.”
Senior Abby Barcus led Jay County in digs (11), kills (10) and aces (three). Classmate Britlyn Dues tallied five kills and two blocks while junior Kaelyn Weaver notched three kills and a team-high three blocks.
Still, Medler was proud of the effort of his team, rallying from down 13-4 in the final set to getting as close as 20-17 before the Starfires scored five straight points for the win.
“We didn’t give up,” said Medler, whose team fell to 16-10 on the year and travels to Bellmont for its next match Oct. 13. “We battled clear to the end, which is what we’re after.”