It was a night to celebrate Bay Volleyball.
Not only did the Rockets win at least part of the inaugural Cleveland West Conference title with a win over North Olmsted on Oct. 3, but junior Olivia Miller also reached her 500th career kill.
They defeated the Eagles 25-18, 24-26, 25-10, 25-16 to remain undefeated in conference play.
Bay (16-1, 12-0 CWC) can clinch the outright title with a win in its final two conference games or a loss to Rocky River. Both rivals will face off on October 8th.
The Bay program has been very successful of late, but questions arose after a key core of players graduated a year ago. This new team answers all of those and appears to be doing it well.
“A lot of it was grit,” Bay coach Katie Seal said. “They literally never give up there. We may not always be playing our best game, but we never give up and they’re in it together. has become a theme.”
Having a player of Miller’s caliber makes the transition that much easier. Her junior year is not over yet and she has reached the 500 kill milestone. She hit again in the second set, but didn’t stop there. Miller is off to a good start on the road to 600 with a match-high 19 points.
“I’ve been keeping track of it all season, but (the feeling) was really great,” Miller said. “Especially what my parents and my team put together. I’m really grateful.”
As a team, the Rockets are off to a good start. They took control with a 10-3 run and never looked back. Five different players achieved two or more kills in the first set. North Olmsted (10-10 CWC, 5-7 CWC) crawled to six points, but Andy Norton finished it off with a kill from Bey.
The Rockets were in position to win easily, but the host Eagles changed the momentum and started second. Ella Davis had three kills and an ace, and Taylor Wengstrom had a chip kill for a 9-4 lead. But Bey fought back.
Delaney Major had three consecutive kills and then Miller had consecutive kills to cap off a 6-0 run and regain the lead. Miller’s 500 kills gave the Rockets a 10-9 lead.
“She’s a really great kid and she’s worked hard,” Seal said. “She does it every day for the team, not for herself. We’re excited to see what else she can do.”
Bay regained his confidence in the first set, but North Olmsted didn’t give up either. However, with a 17-16 lead, Davis had to leave the game due to an ankle injury. Without their star player, the Eagles had to adjust on the fly. They did just that.
Alyssa Byers led North Olmsted with nine kills, five of which came in the second set. The junior gave the Eagles a 23-21 lead, but Bey fought back with three straight points. Byers had another kill to tie the score, then Molly Wheeler had the deciding kill to tie the score at 1-1.
“When (Davis) went down, they could have easily folded and that was it,” North Olmsted coach Jason Kruczek said. “They came together for her to get a 26-24 win. That meant a lot to us.”
North Olmsted got off to a fast start again in the third set, but it was all Bay from there. Trailing 7-4, the Rockets ended the set with a dominant run of 21-3. Miller and Norton both had four kills each in the frame.
That momentum carried over into the fourth set, as the Rockets got off to a 6-0 start with strong serving from Peyton Masterson. The freshman had six aces, the most on the team. Byers tried to score three straight points to lead the Eagles back, but Olivia Stelick shut the door with a block. Miller picked off another ace from there, and Norton added the game-ending kill.
Following Miller, Major and Norton each had nine kills. Amelia Vecchio had 34 assists and 11 goals. Masterson had a team-high 30 digs, followed by Miller with 21 and Majer with 19.
“It’s a great feeling to know how hard we’ve worked and how much effort everyone on this team has put into this,” Vecchio said.