So we win again. The regularity of the trophy-hoisting might seem to be getting tedious, but it really isn't. Each of these last two tournament victories has been very hard fought, which of course makes the winning even sweeter. This time it was in Terre Haute, Coach was scouring the IHSAA website when she came upon this request for teams to participate in a tournament at Terre Haute South. I did a little research, found out the teams in Terre Haute were pretty good, so she signed up. This was THS's first time hosting a tournament, so they were only able to round up only three other teams - us, TH North, and Crown Point. Three huge schools, two with winning records. I want to note here that, unlike Illinois, the volleyball powerhouses in Indiana are not concentrated in the Chicago area. They are pretty well distributed around the state. The #1 4A team is Avon, from the western suburbs of Indy. Brebeuf, the #1 team in 3A is also from Indy, but the 2A top-ranked team is Muncie Burris and the top 1A team is in Montgomery, IN, roughly half-way between Indy and Evansville. So traveling far from home certainly doesn't mean a drop-off in the competition level - it could even mean the opposite.
Right off, we were matched against TH North. They had only one loss to-date, and looked to be a very tough start for our girls. And it was an 8AM CDT start - a little bit early for the Lady Patriots. Sure enough, before we had settled in our seats, it was 4-0, THN. THN committed two error to which Faith added a kill and it looked like we had awakened. THN was a very strong hitting team, but so are we. The teams traded kills for a while, with some errors thrown in, and it stayed close throughout. A Taylor kill followed by a THN hitting error gave us our first lead at 13-12. Neither team had more than a one point lead until an Ally dink kill and a THN hitting error made it 21-19. Taylor served an ace and Faith dinked one home to make it a four-point game. One more THN kill, then Faith smash, Faith smash, and game one was in the books, 25-20. Game two followed a similar track, at least at first. A Holly ace gave us our first two-point lead at 10-8, and then CCS began to take control. Ally and Faith scored on kills, and then after a dink kill by THN, CCS ran off seven straight, with everyone contributing, including the opponent. They absorbed a minor LGFS, but Ally finished the 25-18 game two win with a kill.
Now it was South. South had a below-.500 record, but had played a pretty tough schedule. We soon found out that they also were a team to be reckoned with. They played extremely good defense and had a solid offense. The scored stayed close in game one until THS scored five in a row. After we were called in the net for the second time in a row to make it 14-9, Coach called a time out. That seemed to work. We crept back in to the game, and after a beautiful Lauren/Ally block and THS hitting error we took our first lead, 21-20. Back and forth it went from there. We led 24-23 after a Taylor ace; they answered with a kill. Faith matched that, but then they came back with one of their own. Holly then put on down, and their next kill attempt was into the net, and we squeaked out the game, 27-25. CCS got their bad play out of the way early in the next game. THS was killing it early and we had no answer. The Braves led 6-1, 7-2, 9-3 and 10-4. Taylor then started turning the tide, with kills sandwiched around a Lauren kill. THS scored one, but then the Patriots really took control, outscoring THS 18-6 the rest of the way. Kills from Faith, Rebekah, Ally and Holly, aces from Taylor and a nice double block by Holly and Ally set up the game winner, a dink by Ally to make the final 25-16.
Our last game was against Crown Point, and it was for the championship. Yes, the team traveled almost 200 miles to play a school that is about 14 miles from Calumet. But it did give us an opportunity to play another public school from our area. CP is a very talented but young team. They had played top-ranked teams tough but had lost to teams they should have beaten. They are tall and very strong offensively. CCS got the early lead and held it for most of the game, but the lead never got above three until Faith hurt one to make it 14-10. A CP hitting error made it a five-point game, and after a CP kill, Holly and Faith combined on a block to put it back to five. We led 18-15 when CP ran off four straight. We scored three to answer and then kept a one or two-point lead until the end. A Faith dinked capped off the 25-23 game one win. Game two started well, with Taylor killing two early, Rebekah with a block and it was 4-2. CP slowly caught up, and a CCS hitting error gave them a 9-8 lead. Ally got that one back on a kill, but CP answered strongly with three kills and a stuff block. From there the story was Calumet errors and CP kills. We fell farther and farther behind, and CP closed it out with a dink, 25-17.
The third game, played to twenty-five, not fifteen, which made Coach Casey happy, was a mirror image of the second game as far as the score trends went. It was tied at 5 when Taylor pounded one. I don't know if CP was tired here or what, but they reeled off three straight hitting errors. They then got their act together enough to score a couple. CCS pushed the lead to five after a Taylor kill and ace, which CP matched with two blocks. Holly and Rebekah returned the favor with a very nice block. We only led by three, 19-16, when they committed a service error, followed by a hitting error. Taylor tattooed one, then Lauren and Rebekah went way up, with perfect timing, and rejected a big CP hit. 23-16 CCS. CP was pretty much done at this point. Ally served an ace. Then, in a fitting finish to a break-out blocking game for our girls, Lauren made like a wall and rejected CP's last hit. 25-16, CCS. Championship #2 on the season.
Look, a video!
No comments:
Post a Comment