Girls volleyball: Black River's Kubitz gets 1,0000th assist, but Columbia gets win

SULLIVAN TWP. — Black River senior Morgan Kubitz placed her name in the record books Tuesday during the Pirates' 25-23, 25-17, 20-25, 25-21 Lorain County League loss to Columbia. Entering the matchup averaging just over eight assists per game, the talented setter needed 16 to reach 1,000 for her career. "I've put a lot of hard work into the sport," Kubitz said. "To be able to accomplish something so big is just really amazing. I wouldn't be able to do that without my teammates. Without the passers getting me the ball and the swingers getting me the assists." As expected, she hit the mark in the second set when she set up teammate Sydney Czarny, who smashed the kill from the left side of the net. She finished the night with 32 assists, and also had 12 digs, to improve her assist total to 1,016, becoming the fifth player in Black River history to reach the mark. "It's always kind of been a goal," Kubitz said. "I never really thought as an underclassmen that I could actually get it, but then realizing each year as the assists grew it became a goal for me." She also became just the 10th player in Black River history to surpass 1,000 in any category. "To hit a milestone like that is something really special," Black River coach Courtney Dieter said. "In 52 years of Black River girls basketball in the OHSAA, the list of anybody in any category that hit 1,000 of any category. She puts herself in a very elite category." The senior is well on pace to also surpass her career best of 390 assists her freshman season with 143 through five games this season. For Columbia (1-0, 1-0 LCL) it was its first game of the season and after shaking off a little rust in the first set, the Raiders played well and fought off a very game Black River squad. "It's the first time we as a team had played together," said senior outside hitter Lexi Miller, who had eight kills and three aces. "I think it just took us a little bit. We had to be a team first and pick each other up." The Pirates (4-1, 0-1) had leads in each set and played their best set of the night during the third. But the Raiders found a way to close out the other three games to take home the win. "Something that we have struggled with at practice is coming together as a team," said defensive specialist Nadia Hritz, who led the team with nine digs. "Today we found our voices and a lot of people came out of their shells." Mariah Gonzales paced the Raiders with 15 assists, Karli Acura had three blocks and Naziya Reid had 11 kills. Marlyn Biddle led the Pirates with 13 kills and two aces and Remington Dieter led the way with 23 digs. Contact Chad Grant at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com.