Dalton volleyball ends tourney run in close district semifinal match

By ARIEL STAHLER
Gazette & News sports writer

The postseason run for Dalton High School’s varsity volleyball team ended in the Division IV Lisbon District semifinal Oct. 25 when the No. 8 seed Lady Dawgs fell to No. 4 McDonald 25-22, 19-25, 25-15, 25-22.

“It is always sad to see the season come to an end, but as a coach, you always want to go out playing your best,” said Dalton’s head coach Allison Hostetler. “I think we played some of our best volleyball in tournament games. The girls played well against McDonald, but we were also inconsistent and if we could have held our high level of play throughout the match, I think it would have been a different outcome. We struggled all season with giving the opponents a large lead and not being able to finish out our sets. Both of those things hurt us in our last game as we started the first set down 3-10 and then held a nice lead of 20-13 and couldn’t finish.”

Laura Schloneger accumulated 12 points, two aces and 27 digs. Maddy Coblentz recorded 11 points and 39 digs. Caroline Chubbuck added six points. Vivi Cisar totaled 14 kills and three solo blocks. Lilli Ediger finished with 12 kills. Maclain Stutz and Victoria Oswald both had eight kills each. Sarah Cross dished 41 assists. Sydney Geiser ended with 23 digs.

Hostetler noted how this year’s seniors contributed to the team.

“Where there are always ‘what ifs,’ I am just happy for the opportunity to build relationships with each one of these girls and see them grow as a player and a person,” Hostetler said. “We will miss our seniors – Vivi Cisar, Sarah Cross, Laura Schloneger, Marley Clark, Caroline Chubbuck and Sarah Witmer, but we are excited to see what their future has in store for them.”