Rivalry, county showdown highlights girls week of area high school sports

MARION — In a back-and-forth contest, Ridgedale prevailed over cross-county rival Elgin 3-2 in a Northwest Central Conference volleyball match.

The hosts won the first set 25-22, while Ridgedale bounced back 25-18 and 25-12 before the Comets sent it to a fifth set 25-14. In the final set, the Rockets took it 15-9.

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Richelle Gleespen paced the Ridgedale defense with 24 digs and 39 serve receptions to go with 11 points and four aces behind the line. Hannah Cook added 24 assists, 11 digs and three aces; Lauren Leslie 11 digs, 12 kills, 11 serve receptions, 15 points and three aces; and Lilly Ruth 17 digs, 10 kills, 13 serve receptions and 10 points.

For Elgin, Delainy Boles led with 14 kills, 15 digs and 15 serve receptions, while Jordan Wall had 17 kills and four aces, Madelyn Ruth 30 assists and Gracie Isler 16 serve receptions.

Ridgedale also beat Vanlue 3-1. Leslie put down 16 kills, 13 digs, 12 points and four aces, while Gleespen had 12 points, five aces and 10 digs, and Camryn Thiel had 13 points, four aces and 14 digs.

More Volleyball

● Pleasant won a pair of 3-0 matches last week. Against River Valley, Emerson Williams handed out 30 assists with 11 points, while Kamryn Cocherl added 10 kills and seven aces, and Kenzley Davis and Taydon Obenour both had six kills for the Spartans. For RV, Myla Kenney had six kills and seven digs and Carly Cerny 20 serve receptions. Against Clear Fork, Cocherl posted 13 kills, five aces and three blocks, Kylee LaCroix seven kills, Brooklin Davis six kills, Kenzley Davis five kills and three blocks and Williams 31 assists.

● Marion Harding also blanked RV 3-0. Nyla Sharp-Holmes picked up 23 digs and 22 serve receptions for Harding as Jaela Woods had 13 kills, Emily Ratliff and Sophia Pedraza nine kills each, Addie Appelfeller 14 assists and Macie Cameron two aces on 100 percent serving. For the Vikings, Reagan Fitsko blocked four, Kennedy Hummel dug up 18 and Cerny received 22 serves.

● Highland stopped Harding 2-0 with Larsen Terrill assisting on 25 with seven kills, 11 digs and three aces. Kameron Stover put down 18 kills, while Kendal Kline and Savanna Sanborn combined for nine aces. Sharp-Holmes had 13 digs and Woods five kills for Harding.

● Highland also picked up two other 3-0 victories. In a Mid Ohio Athletic Conference match against Shelby, Terrill had 27 assists, 10 kills and 12 digs, while Camryn Miller had 27 digs and seven assists. In a non-leaguer with Loudonville, Terrill contributed 35 assists, 11 kills and three aces, Stover 23 kills and four aces, Reagan Maibach seven kills and McKaylee Merckling five aces.

● North Union took care of Bellefontaine 3-0 with Lexi Wills getting 11 kills, Lindsay Willis getting 14 digs and 14 serve receptions and Kennedy Harrah getting 27 assists.

Cross Country

● Pleasant finished second at the Bucyrus Elks Invitational held Saturday at the Crawford County Fairgrounds. The Spartans scored 46 points and trailed only Colonel Crawford. River Valley was fourth out of six teams with 97 points. Finishing in the top 30 locally were Pleasant's Casey Kimball (third, 20:34), Cardington's Magi Hallabrin (fifth, 21:09), Cardington's Gracie Meade (seventh, 21:42), Pleasant's Sarah Jordan (11th, 22:03), River Valley's Erica Mason (16th, 23:21), Pleasant's Lydia Baumgartner (18th, 23:30), Pleasant's Whitley Baumgartner (19th, 23:41), Pleasant's Olivia Meyers (23rd, 24:07), Pleasant's Nicole Robinson (25th, 24:31) and RV's Madison Lust (27th, 24:38).

● At the Wapakoneta Night Meet, Harding's Leah Price was seventh in 20:14 as the Presidents were ninth out of 12 teams. The Prexies hosted Ridgedale in a home meet with Price winning in 21:31, Kamryn McDonald taking second in 25:24, Laina Camp third in 27:58, Iris Deeran fourth in 20:37, Kyleigh Young sixth in 21:49, Eva Deeran seventh in 33:28 and Hope Wheeler eighth in 33:58.

● At the Highland Flying Scots Invitational, the hosts were 10th out of 14 teams. Riley Matthews was their top finisher in 23:13 for 39th.

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Golf

● North Union handled Mechanicsburg with a 218 as Charlee Brestle posted a 49, Maddie Taylor a 51, Kelsie Price a 56 and Kaylee Rensel a 62.

● Clear Fork knocked off Highland 196-216 at Wyandot. Ceci Grassbaugh was medalist in the match for the Scots with a 39. Sierra Pitzpatrick backed her with a 55, Lillia Roesky with a 61 and Ryleigh Dewart with a 61.

Tennis

● Pleasant stayed undefeated at 6-0 with a 3-2 victory over Marion Harding. Maura Murphy and Hannah Miller won at first and third singles for the Spartans, while the doubles team of Anya Miller and Kylie Klaiber also won. For Harding, Abbey Hoertz and Sophie Beechum won in doubles and Raina Smith in singles.

● Harding fell 4-1 to Delaware Hayes with Autumn and Sierra Silverio winning a doubles match. The Presidents stopped Ontario 5-0 with Audrey Feasel, Smith and Sierra Silverio winning at singles and Autumn Silverio/Beechum and Hoertz/Abigail Hanke winning in doubles.

Soccer

● River Valley got two goals from Kiley Ratleff, two assists from Delaney Myers, a goal and assist from Olivia Meddles and a goal from India Willis in a 4-0 win over Whetstone. Gianna Alves produced a shutout in her first game in goal with the help of defenders Natalie Polley, Chloe Valentine and Sidney Street. RV's midfielders Gabby Reigel, Selah Parkman, Megan Thomspn and Meddles controlled the ball against Whetstone. In a 13-0 loss to state power and MOAC leader Ontario, Alves had 14 saves.

● Harding took care of Clyde 4-1 with Gabby Neault scoring twice, Kayla Schneider scoring once with an assist and Gabby Hittle also scoring. Leah Price and Corlei Morris added assists.

● Highland's Kayley Smith saved 13 shots in a 2-0 loss to Mansfield Senior.

VOTE: Marion Star Girls Best of the Week Performer Poll

• Cardington cross country runner Magi Hallabrin finished fifth in 21:09 at the Bucyrus Elks Invitational.

• Marion Harding cross country runner Leah Price took seventh in 20:14 at the Wapakoneta Night Invitational.

• Pleasant golfer and tennis player Maura Murphy won the Mid Ohio Athletic Conference Meet No. 2 at Oakhaven with a 75 and also helped the Spartans to a victory over Marion Harding as the No. 1 singles player.

• River Valley's Kiley Ratleff scored two goals in a soccer victory over Whetstone.

• Highland volleyball's Larsen Terrill produced 35 assists, 11 kills and three aces in a win over Loudonville.

• Ridgedale volleyball's Richelle Gleespen put up 39 serve receptions, 24 digs, 11 points and four aces in a win over Elgin.

• Voting continues through early Sunday morning at MarionStar.com and its app.

• In last week's poll, North Union volleyball's Kennedy Harrah, who produced 17 assists and 16 digs in a win over London, earned 372 out of 1,210 votes (31 percent) to win it. Other nominees were Pleasant cross country's Casey Kimball, Ridgedale volleyball's Lauren Leslie, Highland golfer Ceci Grassbaugh and the Marion Harding tennis players Audrey Feasel and Sierra Silverio.

This article originally appeared on Marion Star: Ridgedale volleyball headlines the best of the week in girls sports