The Lake volleyball team celebrates a Northern Buckeye Conference outright championship. (Nicholas Huenefeld | Sentinel-Tribune)
By Nicholas Huenefeld
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
MILLBURY — The Lake volleyball team took care of business Thursday, defeating Maumee 25-12, 25-15, 25-22 inside the Flyer Fieldhouse to claim the program’s fifth consecutive NBC title in outright fashion.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Lake coach Amy Vorst said. “I’m super proud of these kids for coming in and handling their business. It’s so nice not sharing, and to win it outright is the icing on the cake right there.
“This was our goal coming into this season. We knew it was going to be tricky. We knew (teams like) Oak Harbor and Eastwood were going to be fierce competitors, but the kids kept their composure and played hard.”
One of the moments where the team needed to remain composed came in late September, starting when the Flyers fell on the road to Eastwood, which derailed Lake’s undefeated league record and drew the Eagles within one game in the standings.
Following that, Lake dropped all three of their matches in Perrysburg’s Block & Gold Invitational amid tough non-league competition.
“That’s the first time we’ve lost four in a row for as long as I can remember,” Vorst said. “We had a big mental practice. We talked about our culture and getting back to what got us here, and they executed.”
With no room for error should they want an outright league title, the Flyers swept Fostoria, Otsego, Rossford and Maumee to win the title.
“We knew we were facing good teams, so we knew we had to overcome and really persevere,” Lake senior Sydney Marchetto said. “We knew we were capable of accomplishing this and we did. We’re so proud we fought back. We worked hard, and we did it.”
On Thursday, the Flyers had a balanced offensive attack led by a combined 20 kills from Mylah Vorst (11) and Keira Magers (9), while Sydney Brown, Kennedy Falkenberg and Laynie Meadows added eight, six and five, respectively.
“It feels great to know that we could keep the traditions of the classes before us, but it’s also great to know that we could do it on our own and accomplish so much with our team,” Marchetto said. “The underclassmen really stepped up. It was great to be able to do this for our program and our school.”
In the opening set, Lake and Maumee went back-and-forth early and split the first 14 points. From there, however, a kill from Brown, an ace from Calli Conley and a pair of terminations from Vorst started a 5-0 run that forced a timeout from the Panthers.
Maumee remained within five a few points later, but the Flyers scored the next seven points, which ultimately helped them close the set on 9-1 and 18-5 runs overall. The run was highlighted by a pair of kills apiece from Brown and Falkenberg, and a sneaky termination from Savanna Saunders.
Lucy Boos, who finished with 16 assists, had three of her five aces in the second set, including back-to-back ones to give the Flyers an 11-3 lead.
“Lucy ran the offense very well and served aggressively,” Vorst said. “She’s in great pain. She’s getting an MRI this week. Her back has been messed up all season, but you wouldn’t know it by looking at her. Her setting choices were spot on today. She did a great job.”
Meadows added three kills a short time later for a 17-9 lead, and despite the Panthers scoring three of the next four points, Lake used a 6-0 run to firmly take control in a 25-15 victory.
A kill from Brown capped a 12-4 run to open the third set. Maumee responded, despite four kills and a block from Magers in the set, and pulled within two at 17-15.
Falkenberg’s right arm terminated the next point, however, which spurred a run of four straight points for Lake that also included another ace from Boos and back-to-back kills from Vorst.
The back-and-forth continued as Maumee answered with six of the next seven points, trimming their deficit to 22-21.
Boos took control from there, sneaking a pair of kills over the net to give Lake three match points, the second of which was cashed in when a Maumee attack sailed out of bounds.
Meadows totaled a team-best 22 digs, while Marchetto chipped in 20. Saunders led the Flyers with 19 assists.
Vorst said the senior class of Brown, Marchetto, Magers and Lyla Costanzo is what stands out to her the most about this season so far.
“The outcome of our whole season has been our senior leadership,” Vorst said. “They don’t get jealous, and they don’t point fingers. They play all-out for each other all the time. That’s teaching our underclassmen to do the same thing, and I give all the credit to our senior class.”
The top-seeded Flyers (16-6, 13-1 NBC) will begin Division IV postseason play next Thursday at home against Bryan. A win would advance them to district tournament play at Gibsonburg the following week.
