Mack Miller jumps to hug Lilly Mullholand after Eastwood secured the win over Lake on Thursday. The duo combined for 34 kills to lead the Eagles. (Nicholas Huenefeld | Sentinel-Tribune)
By Nicholas Huenefeld
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
PEMBERVILLE — The Eastwood volleyball team, led by the 1-2 punch of Mack Miller and Lilly Mullholand, stifled Lake in a battle of two NBC heavyweights Thursday night, dealing the Flyers a 25-21, 25-22, 22-25, 25-20 defeat.
“We’ve been working on pulling it all together,” Eastwood coach Sarah Frank said. “We had a slower start with some injuries in the summer, but the girls are really just locking in, and I’m really excited with this momentum heading into the postseason.
“Obviously Lake is a great competitor, and I think we played amazing. I still don’t think we’re at our full potential, which I’m very happy about.”
With the victory, Eastwood (12-4, 8-2) moved within one game of Lake (12-3, 9-1) with four left in NBC play, although the strength of schedule favors the Flyers down the stretch.
“I’m excited for our kids because if we handle our business from here on out, we’ll be league champs for the fifth year in a row,” Lake coach Amy Vorst said. “That’s our goal, that’s our plan, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Thursday’s matchup featured the premier teams in the NBC over the past five seasons. Lake (62-2) and Eastwood (55-9) have combined for a 117-11 record since 2020 with five league titles.
“We came in a little bit nervous knowing our past as rivals, but we did a lot of work on focusing and locking in on this game just to be more confident in each other,” Mullholand said. “I feel like coming in we were really positive towards each other and picking each other up, and we played for (each other).
“I think this game is a peak for us, showing us we can play big teams like this and get those big wins if we work together and play as a team.”
Miller paced Eastwood to its fifth-straight victory behind a match-best 22 kills along with 14 digs, while Mullholand added 12 kills and four aces. Addie Hartman chipped in 18 digs, eight kills and five aces, while Kyrie Henline contributed 45 assists and 15 digs.
“Mack took so many sets and was so efficient,” Frank said. “Lilly was running great routes out of the middle that were really hard to defend, and our senior left side Addie had zero hitting errors. They were very effective in the frontcourt.”
The Eagles built a 14-9 lead in the opening set as the duo of Miller and Mullholand combined for five kills. A short time later, Ivy Schrader had a kill and an ace on back-to-back points to give Eastwood a 20-16 lead, which forced a timeout from Lake.
Following that came some controversy as the scoreboard mysteriously added a point for Eastwood during the break. After Lake scored the next two points, a long discussion ensued at the scorer’s table over the score, which ultimately wasn’t changed.
Eastwood regained momentum after that as Hartman had a kill and an ace on consecutive points. Miller later closed out the set with a left-side termination.
“I really equate our loss to a lack of focus,” Vorst said. “Our kids were not dialed in and driven the way they usually are. I don’t have an excuse as to why. It’s not their fans. We had good fans. It’s not that.
“I think they were just relaxed because they knew there was really no pressure, which is not okay. I want them to play under pressure all the time. We should always have a sense of urgency.
“We know we’re going to get everyone’s best game. We can’t come in and go through the motions, and I think that’s what they did.”
A battle of a second set featured five ties through the first 10 points until an ace from Henline and a kill from Miller gave the Eagles a 7-5 lead. Keira Magers slammed home an attack for the Flyers a short time later to tie it back up at eight, but the Eagles reeled off a 7-2 run.
Lake got back up from the mat with back-to-back kills from Mylah Vorst, followed by a termination from Laynie Meadows, which preceded consecutive aces from Calli Conley that knotted the set at 15 and forced an Eastwood timeout.
Miller and Mullholand combined for three straight kills out of the break, although Lake eventually tied it at 20, 21 and 22 with the last one coming via a termination from Kennedy Falkenberg.
Mullholand gave Eastwood a 23-22 lead with a kill, which forced a timeout from Lake. Miller tacked on a kill on the ensuing point, and an ace from Hartman gave the Eagles three straight points for a two-set lead.
In total, the duo of Miller (9) and Mullholand (5) combined for 14 kills in the second set.
“Even through losing a set, even through being down a couple points or tied at different times, we really picked each other up,” Frank said. “We locked it back in and showed a lot of grit and just determination throughout all four sets.”
Lake and Eastwood battled to 15 ties through the first two sets, although the Flyers led for just six points, which all came early in each of the sets.
The Eagles jumped out to a 4-1 lead in the third set and eventually took a 15-10 lead. Following a timeout, Lake rallied and eventually forced the match’s 16th tie at 17 apiece with a combo block from Meadows and Magers.
The two teams were tied four more times until Lake took its first late-set lead in the match, 22-21, with a block from Falkenberg and Mylah Vorst.
After an errant attack saw the 21st tie, Lake scored the final three points of the set on a pair of kills from Vorst and an ace from Lucy Boos.
After narrowly missing a sweep, Eastwood responded with a 7-3 run to open the fourth set, but five of the next six points went to Lake as a termination from Sydney Brown knotted it at eight.
Two more ties ensued before Eastwood took the lead for good on a lift call. Mullholand and Schrader tacked on consecutive kills, and the Eagles eventually led 19-14.
“This group of girls is extremely gritty,” Frank said. “They have a big loss, and they come back into the gym positive the next day ready to go. Defense has been a little bit of a bear for us this season in the beginning, and it’s something we’ve slowly, slowly improved on.
“It doesn’t need to be an issue. We have the athleticism, we have the ability, we have the volleyball IQ, and we’ve been working so hard at it. I think it all came together for them tonight.”
Lake trimmed its deficit to as few as two down the stretch, but Mullholand finished off the match with a kill.
Overall, the two teams saw the score tied 24 times in the match.
“It wasn’t our best serve reception (game),” Amy Vorst said. “I wouldn’t say they had a ton of aces, but more than what usually happens against us. I don’t know if that was us being mentally fatigued, or not mentally prepared, but we’re usually a much better serve receive team.”
Mylah Vorst led Lake with 16 kills, while Falkenberg and Meadows added 12 and 10, respectively. Savanna Saunders led the team with 30 assists. Sydney Marchetto and Boos contributed 16 and 15 digs, respectively.
“I think this will force us to tighten up,” Amy Vorst said. “This will force us to once again get hungry and know that we can’t go through the motions. We can’t come in unfocused and expect to be successful.”
