MARENGO – Ashlynn Belcher stood on the volleyball court and took it all in.
She had reached a milestone with 2,000 career assists – something no player in Highland Scots history had done.
And that’s quite a history.
Belcher achieved the milestone last week in Highland’s 25-14, 25-15, 25-16 victory over River Valley in its home Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference match. One week earlier, she topped Kara Orsborn’s record of 1,927 career assists, established in 2009.
“I’ve set that goal for myself,” Belcher said. “I’m just happy I have the team I have with me. I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Records are made to be broken, but the Scots are currently working on one that will likely never be topped: consecutive conference wins.
On Oct. 9, 2012, Highland lost a MOAC match at home to Elgin in four games. It was a disappointing loss for the Scots, as they sat and watched the Comets celebrate a share of the league title.
Highland hasn’t lost a conference match since.
The school became part of the MOAC Blue Division in 2014, joined the Knox-Morrow Athletic Conference in 2017, then re-joined the MOAC this season. Through all of those changes, the Scots haven’t lost. Highland’s win Tuesday was its 117th straight in conference play.
A week earlier, Highland defeated Galion in four games. That victory was rare in one respect – the Scots lost a game. In their nine-year streak, scattered throughout their 351 games won, Highland lost only six.
“We always seem to have six or seven letterwinners come back every year, so that really helps, because these veterans help the young kids every year,” head coach Rob Terrill said. “You don’t want to have a good year, then drop off. I’ve always been afraid of that. So I’ve made sure there’s always been a solid base.
“We (the team) are going to the middle school game to watch them. Ashlynn played for Highland Juniors. … That’s the good thing about running a youth program that feeds us. We can watch them and really see what they have and what they need to work on.”
Many of those players responsible for this streak hold Highland’s individual volleyball records. Kam Terry established a kills record in 2014 with 1,637, breaking the single-season record (517) in her senior year. Ashton Terrill accumulated 245 service aces through 2016, despite Terry owning the single-season record with 79 in 2014. Bridget Oder finished 2018 with 1,975 digs, earning a record 546 as a sophomore.
Now, Belcher can join them.
“I’ve seen that some of those players went on to really good colleges, and I’m planning on playing at college,” said Belcher, who intends to attend Old Dominion. “I can see where they’ve been, and I can compare myself to them to see where I’m going to go.”
Kendall Stover led the Scots during the match with 23 kills, with Emma West and Larsen Terrill adding five each. Zoey Winkelfoos added 18 digs.
