(Matt McCarthy/Daily News photo) North Dickinson junior Ashton Hord prepares to serve the ball in a Skyline Central Conference match versus Norway on Aug. 31, at the Carl F. Lemin Jr. Gymnasium in Felch.

By John Vrancic

For the Daily News

POWERS — North Dickinson’s lengthy service runs presented problems for North Central here Wednesday night as the Nordics handed the Jets a 3-0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-13) volleyball loss in a Division 4 district opener.

The victory enables the Nordics (7-4) to host four-time defending champion Carney-Nadeau in tonight’s championship match at 6 p.m. Central time.

“It’s very exciting to move on and host the district final,” said Nordics’ coach Taylor Johnson. “We’re pleased with our overall serving, and we probably had our best hitting night of the year. We tried to keep mixing it up the best we could. We hadn’t played in three weeks and were a little rusty in the first two sets. In the third set, I thought we came around and started playing our game.”

North Central took a 3-1 lead on a kill by senior Andie Arsenault in the third set.

The Nordics got a sideout, and junior Vanessa Lindholm served for eight straight points and an 11-2 advantage.

Classmate Chrislyn Inglese added a five-point run in the finale for an insurmountable 20-6 cushion.

“The second set was fun to watch,” said Jets’ coach Rick Mick. “The girls gave a good effort, but our serve receives let us down in the first and third sets. We knew where they were serving. We just couldn’t put the ball into the air.”

Junior Ashton Hord served for seven straight points in the opener, giving the Nordics a 19-9 advantage.

North Central trimmed its deficit to 24-18 on a Nordics’ net violation before junior Eleigh Stout’s kill ended the first set.

The Nordics went up 12-4 in the second set behind a five-point run by junior Kassandra Cary.

North Central then got a sideout on a service error, and Arsenault recorded back-to-back kills to bring the Jets within 12-7.

The teams exchanged points until the score reached 14-8 on a kill by Hord.

A two-hit violation then turned the serve over to the Jets, who climbed within 14-12 on an ace by senior Jesi Dani.

The Jets tied the score at 15 on a hitting miscue before the Nordics regained the lead Cary’s tip for a kill.

North Central stayed close for the remainder of the set, coming within 24-22 on a Nordics’ hitting miscue.

The Nordics, however, secured that set on a Jets’ defensive error.

North Dickinson recorded 28 kills. Cary collected 10, and Inglese added six. Hord was the Nordics’ defensive leader with 17 digs.

“They definitely made it interesting in the second set,” said Johnson. “The second set is always hard for us. We have a lot of young girls, and they either start to worry or get overconfident. Chrislyn had a very good match tonight, and Ashton had a stellar night.”

Arsenault, who was 11-of-12 serving, collected three aces, five kills, one block and eight digs. Tori and Jesi Dani were 9-of-10 serving.

“We served real well,” said Mick. “We’ve been serving well lately and had only four service errors all night.”