WILLARD — It wasn’t the storybook ending coach Missy McDougal envisioned, but the future is bright for the Buckettes.
Playing with a roster that included only one senior, fourth-seeded Buckeye Central fell to No. 2 Monroeville 3-0 in the opening match of a Division IV district semifinal doubleheader Tuesday at Willard High School.
“You don’t like to make excuses but we’re extremely young,” McDougal said. “We have virtually no experience out there except for two players and we competed. We were in every match that we played and we made people work hard.”
The Buckettes (12-12) had no answer for Monroeville outside hitter Maddie Daniel. The 5-foot-8 senior, who became just the fourth player in program history to top the 1,000-kill plateau earlier this month, had 21 kills, three blocks and 10 digs.
“Maddie Daniel had some monster swings tonight,” McDougal said. “We just couldn’t stop her.”
Monroeville (20-4) raced out to an 8-1 lead in the first set behind the serving of Lilly White. Buckeye Central trimmed the deficit to four points on several occasions, but could get no closer in a 25-19 loss.
“The kids came out really quick and had that nice lead to start with,” said longtime Monroeville coach Kendra Snook, who won her 300th career match Tuesday. “Buckeye started to make some adjustments and we started to make some unforced errors and they fought right back into it.
“I don’t think any lead at this point of the season is a comfortable lead.”
The scrappy Buckettes kept it close in the second set and were tied at 15-15 before Monroeville’s Madi Clark scored five straight service points to make it 20-15 in favor of the Eagles. From there Monroeville eased to a 25-20 win and a 2-0 lead. The third set was tied 10-10 before the Eagles closed on a 15-5 run for a 25-15 victory.
“We started out slow and that’s the one thing we couldn’t do,” McDougal said. “We had a lot of unforced errors.”
While the loss stung, McDougal said playing in a district tournament will serve the youthful Buckettes well down the road.
“We had some nerves,” McDougal said. “We had some girls who had never even played varsity and to step out here in this atmosphere, that’s tough for them.
“They came out and battled and did everything they could. It just wasn’t meant to be.”
