HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL

Mules’ frontcourt pounds Adrian

Bedford's Kayla Gwozdz (15) hits the ball against Adrian's Bianca Negron (7) during Tuesday’s match. Gwozdz finished with a team-high 11 kills.

Bedford's Kayla Gwozdz, Nicole Rightnowar, and Taylor Purcell are capable of causing plenty of frontcourt trouble to opposing teams.

PHOTO GALLERY: Bedford tops Adrian in girls HS volleyball

They can be relentless with their returns. They can be overwhelming at times for frontcourt players standing on the other side of the net.

Adrian suffered from such an encounter with Bedford on Tuesday night as the Kicking Mules cruised to a 25-10, 25-13, 25-17 victory on their home court.

The Mules' frontcourt trio combined for 26 kills against Adrian. Gwozdz, a junior outside hitter, led the way with a game-high 11 kills without committing an error.

Rightnowar, a junior middle-hitter, registered eight kills, but committed four errors.

Purcell, a senior middle-hitter, added seven kills without being guilty of an error in a match the Mules gained control of practically from the outset.

Bedford's longtime coach Jodi Manore considered the match an overall good performance that helped raise the Mules' overall record to 27-3.

"We had our attack going," Manore said. "We got a little sloppy. When you're in your own gym and you're trying to hit harder and harder, that's what happened on a few of them.

We had some hitting errors that we shouldn't have.

"Overall, we played pretty well."

Bedford jumped out to an 8-1 advantage in Game 1 and never looked back.

The Mules established dominance at the net against Adrian and led comfortably 20-7 after a Rightnowar kill off an assist from setter MacKenzie Andrews, who tallied a game-leading 40 assists. It wasn't long after that when the Mules scored the final point to end the first game.

The second game played out much like the match's opening game.

Adrian started the second game by winning the opening point.

However, the Mules responded with a 10-2 run to take control of the second game. Purcell, Rightnowar, and Gwozdz owned the net for Bedford.

Adrian played a little more competitively in the third game and made Bedford work a little more harder than it did earlier in the match.

Bedford eventually pulled away to end the match in three games.

"I thought I went out and played for my team because I knew we needed the energy," Gwozdz said.

Contact Donald Emmons at: demmons@theblade.com, 419-724-6302 or on Twitter @DemmonsBlade.