Pandora-Gilboa’s Laira Parkins (7) hits a spike against Columbus Grove’s Chloe Buckley (11) and Kylee Longworth (24) during Tuesday night’s Division IV sectional semifinal at P-G.
Nate Reynolds | The Lima News
PANDORA — For the second time in 10 days; the Pandora-Gilboa Rockets and Columbus Grove Bulldogs met up in volleyball.
The Bulldogs took the 6 mile bus trip up State Route 12 for another matchup with the nearly the same results as the Rockets came away with the victory, this time 27-25, 25-21, 25-7.
Corrin Luginbill led the Rockets with 19 kills, including seven in the first set to help set the tone in the P-G win.
“She is our go to girl for us, when we are in a bind we like to get her the ball and she can usually put it away for us.” Rockets coach Melissa Diller said.
The first set went back and forth with 14 ties with both teams surviving set points before Neveha Alverado (five kills) finished off the set with a kill.
Set number two would rival the first as the Bulldogs took three of the first four points but service errors plagued both teams. The hosts went up 5-4 on an Alverado kill. The Rockets subsequently held the advantage; finishing off the set on a Columbus Grove hitting error.
In the midst of set two, junior Peyton Diller collected her 2,000th assist. Diller 41 had assists along with 19 digs and two aces on the evening.
“She has been setting for our varsity since her freshman year so to accomplish 2,000 assists in her junior year is pretty good.” Coach Diller said.
The announcement of the accomplishment came in between the second and third sets when the junior got a round of applause from the crowd. “I definitely cannot have done it without the hitters and the passers. I am hoping to maybe get 2,500. Peyton Diller said.
The final set was all Rockets. P-G collected a 15-1 run and never looked back with Devin Draper (eight kills) leading the way. Ava Huffman (19 digs) and Lucy Hovest (14 digs) also contributed in the Rocket win.
“We are excited to play Crestview. We are going to watch some film on them and see what we can do.” Coach Diller said.
The Rockets will play at 6 p.m. Thursday at Crestview.
David Boninsegna wrote this story for LimaScores.com. Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.
