St. Marys sweeps Kenton in sectional (w/photo gallery) Posted on October 20, 2023 0 Pushing it overKenton junior setter/hitter Morgan Lyons (7) pushes the ball over the net with two hands during Thursday’s Division II sectional final loss to St. Marys at Liberty-Benton. She contributed four assists, two kills and two blocks.Times photo/Richard Katterjohn FINDLAY — The Kenton volleyball team caught fire toward the end of the season, but its season came to an end at the hands of a solid St. Marys squad Thursday in a Division II sectional final at Liberty-Benton. A talented third-seeded St. Marys squad beat seventh-seeded Kenton 25-16, 25-13, 25-11 for their second win over them. Both teams are now 14-9 on the year. “They were a good team and I think we could have played with them,” Kenton coach Juli Dearing said. “We just couldn’t get it going tonight.” It was the final prep volleyball match for Kenton’s four seniors: Brynn Butler, Emily Pees, Chloe Pleasant and Mya Good. Block at the netKenton junior middle hitter Sadie Larrabee (4) leaps for a two-handed block during Thursday’s Division II sectional final loss to St. Marys at Liberty-Benton. She had five blocks and three kills.Times photo/Richard Katterjohn “We’re going to miss our four seniors. It’s their last match, and that’s always hard. They’re going to be hard to replace next year, there’s no doubt about that. You just hate for it to end. We had a good season. We were better than last year — and we were better last year than we’ve been in a long time. We’re making strides as a program and the seniors were part of that success. The seniors will be greatly missed,” Dearing said. Butler recorded 26 receptions, 12 digs and three points. Good added nine receptions, five digs, two kills and one point. Pleasant tallied five digs, five assists and one point. Cailyn Hopkins was Kenton’s leading scorer with 10 points. She also had 11 receptions and eight digs. Macee Heckathorn connected on four blocks and three kills. Sadie Larrabee leaped for five blocks and three kills. Morgan Lyons contributed four assists, two kills and two blocks. Olivia Nolting got two blocks and one dig. ServingKenton junior outside hitter Cailyn Hopkins (6) launches the ball up for a serve during Thursday’s Division II sectional final loss to St. Marys at Liberty-Benton. She was kenton’s leading scorer as she had 11 receptions, 10 points and eight digs.Times photo/Richard Katterjohn Kenton upset fifth-seeded Elida Tuesday to avenge a regular season loss. They caught fire and made a good run to finish the year on a high note. “We won some tough matches. That’s a huge improvement, the maturity of the team as a whole. We’ve had some adversity, and we got through that. We figured out how to be successful and what it takes. The girls raised their level of play as the season progressed. They were learning how to do different things. Their blocking got better and they got more aggressive with their serves. It was a successful season,” Dearing said.
