GIRARD — The Chardon volleyball team did its share of knocking off teams ranked higher than them this season. But the 17th-seeded Hilltoppers came up short in their bid for another upset special on Oct. 24, losing to 15th-seeded CVCA in a Division III district final at Girard in five sets. Chardon (13-12) had a 2-1 lead, but CVCA won the fourth set, 25-14, and then took the winner-take-all fifth set, 15-13. The win sends the Royals to the Norwalk Regional, where they will face sixth-seeded NDCL next week. NDCL defeated fourth-seeded Kenston, 3-1, in the first of two district finals at Girard on Oct. 24. “They had some really good blocks,” said Chardon interim coach Jess Blackley. “It was hard for us to get around that block. At the end of the day, that was a difference.” It was a 10-10 game in the fifth and deciding set when CVCA’s Emily Darr unleashed a kill, followed by a hitting error by the Hilltoppers. The 12-10 lead gave Chardon little wiggle room for error. Chardon narrowed the gap to 12-11 but CVCA’s Evy Durant had a kill and then Ellie Zockler served up an ace for a 14-11 lead. Chardon rallied with two points off an Addison Koppelman serve, but CVCA closed it out with a kill from Jenna Shedden. “We got down by a couple (in the fifth set) and that little gap set us back a little bit,” Blackley said. Chardon’s back-row defense was spot-on much of the night, digging up many CVCA spikes to ignite the Chardon offense. That was prevalent in Chardon’s third-set win. “That was incredible defense,” Blackley said of the third set. “The biggest thing we talked about is a wide defense, stay wide and work ourselves into the court. We capitalized on that, especially in the third.” Koppelman led the team with 21 kills and five blocks. Mackenzie Siko had eight kills and Abby Kolcum served up 35 assists. “We took out some teams that were ranked higher than us,” Blackley said. “To get to where we are now, I’m proud of the girls. It says a lot about our athleticism and resiliency. We just weren’t able to close it out today.”