Zediker

VALENCIA — The first serve of the game sailed innocently into the net.

A Butler Catholic student had run across the court during the serve, however, so Taylor Zediker got a do-over during this Sept. 2 parochial school volleyball match.

The Holy Sepulcher eighth grader served the ball again — and again and again and again and again.

No one else in the game got a chance to serve, in fact, as Holy Sepulcher won the game 25-0. The Hornets won the overall match 23-25, 25-0, 25-23, 25-21, posting their first victory of the season.

"I've never seen anything like that," Holy Sepulcher coach Paul Tomlinson said of Zediker serving 25 consecutive points. "The most I've seen in a row is maybe 11.

"When (the Butler Catholic) girls were playing up, Taylor served it deep. When they played back, she dropped it in front of them. She just controlled the whole court."

Of Zediker's 25 serves that game, only five were returned.

Longtime volleyball referee Theresa Mullen said she saw one player hold serve through an entire game only once before during a high school match at Shaler.

Zediker is in her fourth year of playing organized volleyball. She said she practiced a lot over the summer and attended the Mars High Volleyball Camp.

"I think I served six straight points in a game once, and that was in the middle of a game," she said. "Once I got to 20, I felt like ... 'I can do this.' "

Standing 5-foot-3, Zediker said she never got tired of serving during the streak.

"Thirsty, not tired," she said.

"Taylor just got on a roll," Tomlinson said. "You could see the other team getting frustrated, but they quickly refocused after that game.

"All three of the other games that night were close scores. Butler Catholic has a good team. This was just one of those things.

"Taylor is one of our stronger offensive players, and when her serve is on, it's on," the coach added.

Taylor's mother, Joanne Zediker, played intramural volleyball at Gannon University and has been around the game for a long time.

"This was just one of those once-in-a-lifetime things," she said. "This just doesn't happen in volleyball, at any level."

When Butler Catholic did manage to return a serve, Holy Sepulcher's other players did their parts to keep the streak alive.

"My teammates had my back on this one. That's for sure," Zediker said.