High school volleyball: Open Door can't keep up with Kidron Central Christian's speed in district semifinal

KIDRON — Turns out that speed kills in volleyball, too. Open Door played well early but just couldn't adjust to the quick-set offense run by top-seeded Kidron Central Christian as the Patriots lost 25-20, 25-17, 25-13 in the Division IV district semifinals Wednesday night. The Comets (20-3) will host the district final Saturday at a time yet to be determined. Kidron Central Christian will face Dalton, a 25-14, 25-11, 25-16 winner over Loudonville in Wednesday's other semifinal, for the right to go to the Sweet 16. The fifth-seeded Patriots' season came to an end with a 10-13 record. Open Door and the Comets took some time trying to figure each other out with fourteen straight side-out points to start the night and the score moving to 11-10 with Kidron Central Christian holding the slim lead. Open Door senior Maddie Stintsman kept the Patriots close early with a pair of kills in a 10-point run that included five straight unforced errors by the Comets. That's when Kidron Central Christian finally started getting the pistons firing in the fast-paced offense with a pair of kills by Rachel Eshenaur to go with two aces by Morgan Chandler as the Comets opened up a 16-10 lead. The Patriots continued to fight, staying within striking distance by getting several more points off Comets miscues, Bianca Yakobchuk kills, an ace by Hannah Otero and a block-kill from Stintsman to cut the Comets lead to 22-20. A hitting error gave the ball back to Kidron Central Christian and the serve never came back as Eshenaur finished off the set with another short set kill. "We have a very young team and trying to defend (the Comets) was very tough, our blockers just had no answer for them," said Stintsman, who finished with nine kills to increase her season total to 265. "We could have watched them all day, but until you step on to the floor you really don't know how to adjust. It's something the younger kids will have to adjust to go forward." After staying close in the first set, the next two got away from the Patriots early, leading to their three-set demise. The Comets jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the second set with Emma Mast (33 assists) picking up a pair of aces as Kidron Central Christian didn't let the Patriots get any closer than four points the rest of the way. Open Door had the score tied at 6 in the third game, following kills by Stintsman, Alyssa Scheneman and Yakobchuk, but a seven-point service run by Rachel Eshenaur, with three aces and three Julie Immel kills, all but finished off the Patriots. "I knew (the Comets) were going to be fast, we watched them on film, but we were short-handed with a couple injuries and they could have helped us tremendously," Patriots coach Dan Stintsman said. "That's a great team, they had no weakness and they exposed our weaknesses. You have to be able to score points and we just couldn't do that." For Stintsman, it marked the final time coaching his daughter Maddie. "We used to butt heads and when she started playing, I wouldn't coach her because she wouldn't listen," he said with a laugh. "To watch her grow and get better and better was something I'll always enjoy." Contact James Brady at 329-7135 or jbrady_ct@yahoo.com. Kidron Central Christian 25-25-25, Open Door 20-17-13 KILLS — (OD) Maddie Stintsman 9, Alyssa Sandoval 4; (CC) Julie Immel 11, Rachel Eshenaur 10, Hailey Eberly 6. ASSISTS — (OD) Alyssa Scheneman 14; (CC) Emma Mast 33. DIGS — (CC) Immel 14, Allison Mullet 12. ACES — (OD) Hannah Otero 1, Bianca Yakobchuk 1, Scheneman 1; (CC) Eshenaur 3, Immel 2, Morgan Chandler 2. BLOCK-KILLS — (OD) Stintsman 2, Scheneman 1; (CC) Ruthie Nuzum 1.