Yeah, I know, it's late

Sorry about the delay. I guess I'm not quite as excited about posting when I can't make the games.

I said last post that the Merrillville game would be the first one I missed completely since Kelsey's first varsity game. Well, I did manage to get over there between games that I was playing in Crown Point. I was able to see the last part of game three and all of game four. I really shouldn't have seen all of game four because I was late for my game, but so be it. I did miss the MCAC game, so that was the first one totally missed. Time to start a new streak.

From what I saw and from talking to Coaches Carr and Franklin, the play against Merrillville was sloppy at times but effective. As I mentioned, I only saw the second half of the third game and the fourth game, and the Patriots looked pretty good in that stretch. Faith was alternately pounding the ball and placing it, Ally was hitting around the blocks (except for one), serving was very good, setting was effective and the defense was adequate. Coach Carr said that the middle of the defense is still a concern. Hopefully Amanda can come back quickly from her broken finger and help out there. Nevertheless, the Patriots have two convincing wins against public school opponents.

Tuesday's game was another story. Coach Franklin gave me her notes from the game and I will try to relate them here. She didn't have detailed notes about the first game, but noted that MCAC got two points from an incorrect lineup submitted for Calumet...and still CCS won 25-9. We faced MCAC a few times last year, most notably in the NCSAA tournament in Erie, PA. They were not a strong team but they weren't horrible. Apparently they lost of a lot of their strength to graduation, because the reports were that they were weaker than last year.

Coach Franklin noted that Jenna was put in as libero in game #2. Early on, #3 (who reminded Kelsey very much of Jamie Fivecoate of Fulton County, for those of you who remember her) made a big block on Faith. This was part of some decent play early in the game by MCAC, who only trailed at one point 9-5. From there CCS went on a tear. When the streak finally ended with a mishit by Faith, Calumet let 18-5. The lead then was gradually extended, and the game ended as the first one did, 25-9.

Taylor served like she can to start game three, and soon it was 10-1. Calumet then maintained approximately that lead to 14-6, then went on a five-point run. After a couple of unforced Patriot errors, MCAC started passing the ball over the net, setting up easy kills for Taylor and Holly. An ace by Emily made the score 23-8, then the Patriots experienced their first LGFS-like stretch of the season (see last year's posts for what LGFS stands for). But a Holly kill finished off the overmatched Wildcats - final score: 25-11.

Tomorrow Community Baptist of South Bend, the the big, big test - the five-team round-robin at Lafayette Central Catholic on Saturday. Opponents are Lafayette Central Catholic, Andrean, Rockville (28-7 last year) and Eastern Greene (30-5). That will be fun.

And, just maybe, soon I'll have my first rant of the year. You know who/what the subject will be.

PS. The JV teams have been on a roll. They are 8-0 in matches and 17-2 in games. Their two game losses were against varsity teams, and one of those was played by the JVB team. They are 4-0 in matches against varsity squads. Most recently, the JVA team defeated MCAC 25-4, 25-8. Soon the JV information will be on the Maxpreps website. I will post a link when that info is published.