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SC denies Jets first win

Justin St. Ours | Daily Press Superior Central’s Riley Johnson (10) tips the ball over the net as North Central’s Jesi Dani (left) defends and Superior Central’s Diana Augustyn (back center) looks on Tuesday at North Central.

POWERS — The Superior Central volleyball team grounded the North Central Jets in a nip-and-tuck five-setter (15-25, 26-24, 20-25, 25-13, 15-13) here Tuesday as the Jets fell short of getting their first win of the season.

It all came down to the fifth set. North Central came out quick with a five-point service run from Alex Neville, but a kill from the Cougars’ Emma Rutter snapped the streak. Possession traded back-and-forth, and a run from Superior Central’s Elsie West put the Cougars up 7-6. A lifting penalty on the Cougars (3-9) and an ace from the Jets’ Cheyenne Borucki made it 8-7 in favor of North Central.

The next few points kept the Jets (0-12) ahead until Superior Central’s Katrina Augustyn tied it at 11 with a spike. The Cougars kept rolling behind two kills from Riley Johnson to lead 14-11.

The Jets had a chance as they forced two out-of-bounds shots from the Cougars, but a service error into the net finished the set and the match.

“We struggled with responding to runs,” Cougars’ coach Kris Bray said. “We’d get more cautious, and then we’d make mistakes. I just told them that you have to keep playing aggressive, and that’s what we did in the last set. It really comes down to just cleaning up our errors.”

North Central finished the first set after getting out to an early lead and maintaining its momentum to finish it with an ace from Olivia Arnold.

“I think we caught them sleeping a little at the start,” Jets’ coach Rick Mick said. “I don’t think they expected us to be as improved as we are.”

In the second set, the Cougars jumped out to a quick lead after a seven-point run from Katrina Augustyn and an eight-point run from Ellie Swick, but found themselves stymied in the middle of the set.

Trailing 19-5, the Jets started closing the gap thanks to a seven-point run from Andie Arsenault. North Central parlayed that momentum into closing within one on a tip-over kill from Arsenault and tying it at 24 when a Cougars’ ball hit the net. However, kills from Augustyn and Johnson ended the set for Superior Central.

“In the second set, we got stuck in a rut of one of our rotations and quit playing aggressively,” Bray said. “The more cautious we were, the more mistakes we made.”

North Central found itself in the opposite position in the third set, leading 20-8 and fighing off a Cougars’ resurgence to take the set.

“We creep closer and closer (to our win) every week,” Mick said. “This was the closest we’ve come to it. The most positive thing, I think, is that we had a lot of gut-check moments tonight. I felt like there were moments tonight where we would’ve folded in the past, and tonight, the girls didn’t. They fought hard. I’ve been saying they fought hard all year, but this is the hardest they’ve fought. I’m disappointed in the loss, but I’m proud of the effort.”

Superior Central found its feet again in the fourth. After maintaining a small gap, the Cougars took control to lead 11-9. They limited the Jets to just four more points the rest of the set.

“It was a good win, and (the Jets) played well,” Bray said. “They improved so much from the first time we played them, and it kind of took us by surprise. Thankfully, we were able to pull out the win.”

Superior Central, which won the jayvee match 2-0, travels to Munising Thursday. North Central hosts Bark River-Harris Monday.

North Central

Aces — Neville 7, M. Dani 4, A. Arsenault 2, Borucki 1; kills — Neville 5, A. Arsenault 4, Borucki 2, B. Arsenault 2; blocks — M. Dani 4, A. Arsenault 1, B. Arsenault 1, Neville 1, J. Dani 1, Borucki 1; assists — J. Dani 5, M. Dani 3, Neville 1; digs — A. Arsenault 12, M. Dani 12, B. Arsenault 9, T. Dani 4, Neville 4, Walters 1.

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