Jonathan Alder’s Ellen Kennedy (13) passes the ball toward the front row on Thursday. Also pictured for the Lady Pioneers are Lizzie Lombardi (20), Kennaday Izzard (10) and Jaden Phelps (23). Alder swept Bloom Carroll to win the Division II district semifinal match. (Journal-Tribune photo by Tim Miller)
Will face second-ranked Highland for D-II district crown
It was just “another day at the office” for Jonathan Alder’s volleyball team.
No one heard any complaints about that from coach Joe Ross.
“That’s just how we like it,” he said after Thursday’s 3-0 Division II district semifinal victory over Bloom Carroll.
The 25-12, 25-7, 25-16 verdict over the 10th seeded Bulldogs enabled the top-seeded Lady Pioneers to remain unbeaten at 19-0.
Alder has overpowered its opponents along the front line all season.
Ross felt his squad upped the pressure even more during Thursday’s contest.
“I think we showed more force on our attacks,” he said. “It had been a little over a week since we last played, so I think the girls were excited to have a game day.”
The opening set presented no challenge to Alder.
Kills from Ava Francis and Emma Shepherd set the tone for the game.
Shepherd tallied back-to-back kills that pushed Jonathan Alder out to a 19-8 lead.
Francis followed with an ace serve and Bloom Carroll sent a serve reception out of bounds.
That resulted in JA’s 21-8 advantage.
Francis slammed a blistering kill along BC’s back row as Alder’s margin expanded to 23-9.
The Bulldogs scored a trio of consolation points before a blast by Lizzie Lombardi gave JA a 1-0 lead in sets.
A kill from Francis (who had 15 for the night) broke an early 3-3 stalemate during the ensuing game.
Lombardi notched an ace serve (one of Alder’s 10) and JA also took advantage of the Bulldogs’ hitting mistakes.
Lombardi’s serve gave JA a 10-3 margin.
The Lady Pioneers climbed to a 17-5 lead when Shepherd and Gracie Nees combined for a block.
Alder capitalized on numerous Bulldog errors for a 23-6 margin.
Francis put JA at set point (24-7) with one of her many kills.
Jaden Phelps then tipped the sphere over the net between a blocker’s arms for the final point of the game.
Despite the fact they were behind 2-0 in sets, the Lady Bulldogs refused to surrender.
The score of the third game was tied early at 3-3 when JA sent a block sailing out of play.
A net violation by Alder later deadlocked the contest at 5-5.
Shepherd returned a 6-5 edge to the Lady Pioneers with a kill.
Jonathan Alder regained the momentum during the next several minutes.
Francis and Lombardi each tallied kills as JA’s lead expanded to 16-9.
The Bulldogs, who used a number of timeouts during the match, could not come up with any strategy to withstand Jonathan Alder’s superiority at the net.
A tip in the opposite direction by Nees pushed the Lady Pioneers out to a 21-13 lead.
The Bulldogs tallied the next three points on Alder’s hitting and passing errors.
Bloom Carroll, however, couldn’t keep the ball in play as the Lady Pioneers wrapped up the victory.
Thursday’s triumph sets up a huge match at Jonathan Alder on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
The Lady Pioneers will face the No. 2 seed Sparta Highland (22-1) for the district championship.
“As far as we’re concerned, we’re just 1-0 right now,” said Ross. “We’ll talk about the other matches after the season ends.
“Highland is very talented across the net,” he said.
The Scots feature a lineup of hitters that includes Kendall Stover, Abby Eusey and Emma West.
Each stands 5-10.
That, however, won’t alter how the Lady Pioneers plan for the battle.
“We’re not going to change our mental approach,” said Ross.
“Our thought process is going to be ‘control what we can control.’”