By Nicholas Huenefeld

Special to the Sentinel-Tribune

MILLBURY — Caity Extine haunted her old team on Thursday, delivering a match-best 10 kills to lead the Lake volleyball team to a 25-4, 25-9, 25-15 win over Rossford inside the Flyer Fieldhouse.

Extine, a sophomore outside hitter who played for the Bulldogs last year, had three kills and a block in each of the first two sets. She then added four more terminations in the final frame to help Lake improve to 9-1 overall and 6-0 in NBC play.

“It was exciting to see my old teammates, but also nerve-racking,” Extine said. “My (current) teammates really helped me get through it, giving me hugs and lifting me up. Our setters gave me the ball perfectly every time. It was great.”

The Flyers took control of the opening set early, using a 15-0 run to take a 16-2 lead. All but one of those points came via a service run from Sydney Marchetto.

“(Syd is) just an all-around great, smart kid,” Lake head coach Amy Vorst said. “I’m glad she went on that run. She hits the spots we tell her, and she puts pace on the ball. She does a great job.”

Extine had a pair of kills and a block during the run, while Mylah Vorst had three terminations and a block. Laynie Meadows chipped in a kill, and Marchetto had one ace.

Despite a pair of kills from Rossford’s Sophia Shinaver, Lake finished off the set in part due to a kill and a block from Kennedy Falkenberg.

Lake had six players record five or more kills in the match including Extine. Meadows and Mylah Vorst had six apiece, while Sydney Brown, Falkenberg and Keira Magers each had five.

“I was pleased with how we came out focused and ready,” Vorst said. “I was also happy with how our setters spread the offense. Obviously, we went to Caity a lot more. She had a great game. We love that kid.”

Lucy Boos led the Flyers with 20 assists, and Marchetto had five digs.

Falkenberg had three kills to begin the second set as Lake opened up a 11-3 lead, although an ace from Sadie St. Mary and a kill from Keaghan Mahaffey helped the Bulldogs recover and split the next six points.

A pair of kills and a block from Extine down the stretch helped Lake take a two-set lead.

Lake scored five straight and eight of the first nine points in the third set. Rossford, however, got two terminations and an ace from Mahaffey over a 6-2 run that pulled the Bulldogs within three.

“I think we tried our best,” Rossford assistant coach Melissa Cobb said. “We finally came out and started to play in that third set. We did what we could. We’re going to keep working hard.”

Rossford (3-7, 1-5 NBC) remained close as a kill from Alex Swartz made it 16-12.

From there, however, the Flyers got back-to-back-to-back kills from Magers, Extine and Brown followed by an ace from Marchetto.

Two consecutive attack errors from Rossford then finished off a 6-0 spurt for Lake as they eventually finished off the match.

“We worked hard, definitely in that third set,” Cobb said. “If we continue to do that and stay out of our heads, we’ll have a solid team.”

The Bulldogs, who are dealing with some injuries, had several young players get some playing time. They had success at the service line in particular, getting a pair of aces from St. Mary and one apiece from Cali Adams, Nicole Grix and Mahaffey.

“This was definitely a new experience for them,” Cobb said of her younger players. “We’re building our program. Hopefully we’ll get them more practice and get them more up to the speed of the game.”