Highland gains milestones in volleyball victory over unbeaten Pleasant

Highland gave Pleasant its first loss of the season and ended up sharing the Mid Ohio Atheltic Conference volleyball title with the Spartans.

SPARTA — Kendal Kline reached 1,000 assists for her career, but that wasn't the only reason for celebration at Highland.

For the 13th year in a row, the Scots earned a league volleyball championship, this time sharing it with Pleasant after beating the Spartans 3-0 at home Oct. 7 in the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference.

"Honestly the best night of my career. Best team. Best group of girls. I love them so much," the Highland senior setter said. "Everyone came today and cheered for us. It made us drive. We wanted this so badly after losing to Pleasant. We wanted it more."

The win moved the Scots to 14-7 overall, but 13-1 in the MOAC as they gave Pleasant its first loss in the conference and overall this season.

"We came in knowing we had to take care of business and play clean on our side," Highland first-year coach Katie Davis said.

How did Highland pull off the victory?

Highland fell at Pleasant 3-1 on Sept. 11, but Tuesday night it pulled out a 25-22, 25-22, 25-21 win.

"When we played them the last time, when we made a mistake, we would make two or three after that," Davis said. "Our No. 1 goal tonight was if we made one mistake, don’t make two or three more. Let’s get over it and get that next point."

The second set was tight, tied as late as 18-18, but Highland scored three consecutive points. The Spartans cut it to one point twice, but the Scots always had the answer, getting kills from Reagan Maibach, Payton Bradley and Addie Mullins to close them out.

Highland controled much of the third set, building up to a 19-13 advtange. A pair of aces from Pleasant's Kam Cocherl cut it to 23-21, but a backrow kill from Maibach and another at the next ended the match.

"We kept our energy higher than theirs," Kline said. "We always stayed in their heads. It’s a big part of the game whether you believe it or not. It really is."

What's up next?

Pleasant goes to 20-1 overall and 13-1 in the MOAC as it won at least a share of the league in last week's 3-0 win over Shelby. It is Pleasant's first volleyball conference crown since 2012.

Nevertheless, the Spartans were disappointed with their showing.

"We didn’t follow the game plan at all. I don’t know if it was the intensity of the situation or if it was our time to not play well in all aspects, but we’ll get back at it tomorrow," Pleasant coach Kory Ute said. "We tell them to study film at night. We put everything on the board that are our goals, and when we don’t do it, we’re not going to win. It’s a pretty simple process."

Highland forced a share of the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference volleyball championship with a 3-0 home win over Pleasant. It is the 13th league title in a row for Highland as it will share it with the Spartans in 2025.

For the Scots, winning the match in three sets showed the growth the team has enjoyed down the stretch.

"We really worked on spot hitting a lot this second half of the season," Davis said. "That’s been one of the biggest things for us, that we keep them moving, keeping it unexpected. We can’t keep hitting the same spot three times in a row because they will adjust … to pick up that ball. Being able to move the ball around a lot was really beneficial tonight."

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This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Highland 'best team' in earning 13th league crown in volleyball

Category: General Sports