As has been the case in the previous two Calumet Invitationals, CCS swept through pool play. This year it seemed even easier that it has been. The girls didn't have to concentrate much to beat their first four opponents. Their fifth, Indy Silver Lightning, had been very successful from what I gathered, beating some teams with winning records. So the girls dialed up the intensity for that one, and it wasn't close.
The first opponent was Crosspointe, a perennially weak team from Indianapolis. That hasn't changed. Taylor had five aces in the first eight points, all scored by Calumet. At 9-0, Crosspoint scored their first two points, then it was spiking practice. A Crosspointe serve into the net mercifully ended game one, 21-6. I wasn't paying as close attention in game two; other stuff was going on and it wasn't really necessary for me to focus on the game. Apparently the girls didn't think it was that important either, as they gave up more points that probably they should have, but the outcome was never in doubt. 21-11, CCS.
Opponent #2 was a new team to the tournament, a home school team called the Noblesville Lions from Noblesville, Indiana. They had nice uniforms. (I'm looking for positive things to say.) Seriously, they had one decent player, Juli Hall, but not much after that. They scored the first point of the first game, then CCS scored ten in a row. We had a lot of kills and they made a lot of mistakes. Taylor's dink found the floor to end a 21-5 cruise. Focus was completely lost in the second game. Noblesville led 7-4 at one point, or should I say CCS trailed 7-4, because most of Noblesville's points came from our errors. The Ally started serving and Noblesville started avoiding returning it. We led 10-9 when Taylor started hitting it. The game ended on back-to-back Taylor aces, 21-11.
First Baptist of Danville was the 4:30 opponent. More of the same. FBD did have a nice middle hitter, but not much else. The girls, at about three-quarter speed, had a pretty easy go of it. Again a slow start, but then again a strong middle and end. The Patriots only led 7-5 when, after a FBD serving error, the girls played crisply, and that usually means kills. Ally scored two, then Taylor got one. Faith aced a serve and the game was in hand. The girls finished strong with a Lauren block, Faith's first really big kill of the day, and then a Lauren ace. Game two saw our first LGFS. The Patriots powered out to a 19-3 behind kills from everyone - Rebekah, Faith, Lauren, Taylor, Holly and Jenna all joined in the fun. Then FBD scored eight straight points, mostly because of our errors, before they missed on a spike. 21-11 was the final after Katie nailed the game down with an ace.
Heritage Hall was our after-dinner foe. They were good back in the days of the Luke girls, less so now. We should have beaten them as we did the opponents earlier in the day, but we made a lot of errors, hitting, serving and defensive,. At 15-11 the girls picked up their play a little and scored six of the last seven points with a kill from Faith on an over pass the final point in the 21-12 win. The girls were a little more consistent in game two - not much more focused, but they maintained the same level of disinterestedness throughout the set. The lead grew gradually throughout until at 20-12, Amanda got a the clinching point on a kill.
We thought that the Indy Silver Lightning would be our toughest competition, from what we knew about their scores and from their 6-0 pool record. This was not a good thing for Indy. CCS came out ready to play in their final pool match. Kill, Lauren. Kill, Faith, Error, ISL, Kill Faith. Error ISL. Block, Lauren and Faith. 6-0, Patriots. Later, after three ISL points in a row, the girls put together another strong streak, made up of aces, blocks and kills. Taylor put one down, then ISL went into the net and the 21-10 first game win was complete. ISL really had no chance in the second. They were discouraged and seemed to have lost the ability to returns serves. CCS had eight aces in the 21-5 Patriot win.
Saturday morning was nice sleep-in morning for the girls. With the new gold/silver division format, the first game for the top seed from the blue pool was scheduled for 1:15. Apparently some took too much advantage. A couple of girls were late, sisters coincidentally, so they were not in the starting lineup for our first bracket play game. The opponent was WMCAA, who had played and won earlier in the day (Calumet had a bye). They were warmed up and ready to play. Our girls were a little disoriented without two starters on the floor. The game was tied at 10-10 when we started making a lot of defensive errors. WMCAA scored seven in a row when coach subbed the starters back in, just in time it seemed. WMCAA scored one more to make it 18-10. Faith pounded a few, Taylor aced a few more and we had eleven in a row and a three-point lead. A hitting error and two defensive lapses by the Patriots, plus a kill gave WMCAA a one-point lead. That was enough for Faith, and three kills out of the last four points helped CCS squeak out a 25-23 win. The Patriots made up for lost time in game, two, hitting (everyone), blocking(Holly especially) and acing (mostly Taylor) at a high rate. A Holly kill, a Lauren block and a Taylor kill were the final three points of the 25-8 win.
The Arthur Christian team was the semi-final opponent, a team with some talent but not much depth. Their star was tall middle hitter with some ability. We seemed to play at a level good enough to stay ahead but not pull away, at least until it was 17-13. Then Holly put one down, Ally followed, then it was Holly's turn again. Arthur got a kill, but Faith followed a kill with two aces. Ally got the last point in the 25-14 win on a dink. The Patriots established themselves early in game two, leading 5-1, 11-3, and 18-8. Amanda got a kill in there, and Katie scorched two aces and a kill. Faith got her share, and Holly and Ally got a block. After a CCS hitting error, Arthur served into the net and CCS was in the final, winning 25-12.
Crossroads also had not lost a game, but they had been tested a little more. I'm not sure if they played below their ability (probably), or their competition was stronger (not likely), but they were all that we could handle in the championship match. I didn't think anyone could match our defense, but they did. The fact that we were deeper offensively offset their great hitting from their setter on second touches. On to the games. We started slowly, trailing 3-0. CCS got a couple back with a Crossroads serving error and a Faith kill. At 6-5 Crossroads, the Patriots went on a little tear, outscoring Crossroads 8-1 mostly on dinks and Faith aces. The game was full of great defensive plays. I only note how points are scored, so the great defensive plays are often neglected. Faith's defense was so phenomenal in this game that I have to mention it. Time after time, she came flying from nowhere to make a great save. On one play at 13-9, she made a great dig and her momentum carried her well off the court. The next hit was popped up, and Faith leaped to her feet and, moving away from the net, got her hands on the ball and punched it back over her head into Crossroad's court. (CCS ended up taking that point on a hitting error.) That was one example of her stellar defensive play. From this point Calumet kept the lead about seven until Crossroads tried to tip up a ball at the net and were called for a lift. 25-18, Patriots.
Game two saw a first for us. We seemed to lose composure. To start the game, the Patriots made a lot of errors, but played well enough offensively to trail only 7-5. After that, however, the girls fell apart. Equally from our errors, their hits and their blocks, the went on a 12-3 run and lead 19-8. Faith ended that streak with a couple of kills but we gave them right back on errors. Another Faith kill, a lift on a Crossroads set and a big block from Faith and Holly followed. One more error by CCS (22-13) was followed by another Faith kill and a block from Holly and Taylor. Two Crossroads hitting errors ensued, then a Holly kill made it a four-point game. They crushed on which Taylor answered with a dink. We followed that with a hitting error, putting Crossroads one point away. Lauren got a kill, but we couldn't dig up a dink from Crossroads and they got the second game 25-20.
Game three was strange it its own way. This time we started out strong - well, Crossroads started out weak, with a service error, hitting error and a net violation around a Taylor ace and the lead was 4-0. We had a service receive error, then the craziness began. There was furious flurry at the net, which the ref ruled, I think, as an out ball last touched by Calumet. That didn't seem to be what actually happened, but hey, he's the ref. Then the line judge came and talked to the ref, but nothing was changed. What did change was the momentum. We seemed to be a little confused and gave up two more points on errors. Faith put things aright with a kill which they matched. Another by Faith was followed by a CCS serving error. They lifted the ball on a block attempt. They seemed to do the same on the next point, but no lift was called, the play went on, and finally a spike attempt by CCS went into the net. They then had a big block, we made a defensive error and we trailed 9-7. Coach Carr called a timeout. We responded kill Taylor, kill Ally, kill Taylor. Timeout, Crossroads. We went into the net, they served into the the net. Katie then got a kill, then Lauren did the same. We messed up a serve, they went into the net. 14-11, Patriots. We then, showing our fatigue, spiked one into the net and then botched a dig. 14-13. Faith then came up big as she often has. A spike found a hole in the block, hit the ground, and Calumet was champion again.
The awards were as follows:
Second team all tourney:
- Juli Hall, Noblesville
- Paetyn Cummings, Schaumburg
- Meagan Isola, Schaumburg
- Emma Surface, Indy Silver Lightning
- Carrie Power, Grace
- Jessica Greer, First Baptist of Danville
- Whitney Stieglitz, Fort Wayne Falcons
- Caitlyn Bruinsma, Heritage Christian
- Ally Rohn, Calumet Christian
- Annika Albrecht, Crossroads
- Hannah Matillano, Quentin Road
- Taylor Lindbloom, Calumet Christian
- Savannah Atsma, WMCAA
- Meghan Lowry, Arthur Okaw
- Faith Rohn
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