A worthy foe

Tuesday night the Patriots traveled a short distance south and west to the Heritage Christian High to take on their old rivals, the Defenders. Calumet had played the Defenders every year for as long as I've been associated with the program, usually more than once a year. HHCS is a member of the ICST, so we also often see them in the state tournament. In 2007 and 2008, Heritage had the upper hand, but since them Calumet has won seven straight over Heritage. Very few, if any, of the matches were easy, however. Tonight was not an exception, to an extent.

The match started on an error by CCS, and that kind of set the tone for the game. Not that Calumet made all the mistakes; both teams contributed to the sloppy play. The teams were pretty even through the first part of the game. We were up by two a few times, 5-3 after a kill by Ally, 7-5 after a nice block by Olivia, and 9-7 after an Olivia kill. Two Heritage errors made a four-point lead, but HCHS got two kills, then a kitting error by CCS got Heritage back to within one. A combination of Patriot dink kills and Heritage errors gave CCS a 18-11 lead and they never looked back. The lead got as big as eight at 22-14. CCS made some errors, but Heritage did not get closer than five in the 25-18 win.

The score followed the same path in the second set. Calumet had a three point lead twice early, at 8-5 and 11-8, but them, primarily because hitting errors by the Patriots, the Defenders scored five in a row to take the lead. Two Faith kills and one from Ally contributed to CCS recovering the lead, 16-14. A bit later an HCHS hitting error gave Calumet a three point lead, and Stephanie got a kill and CCS led 21-17. Heritage called a timeout when the lead got to 23-18. This seemed to help, and they got a kill to break the momentum. Calumet then contributed to Heritage's cause with three hitting errors in a row. Olivia righted the ship with a kill, then after a Heritage kill they put one into the net and Calumet won set two, 25-23.

The pattern held in game three, at least early. Neither team could get any sizable lead, though the Patriots did get a couple of two point leads. HCHS blocks and kills plus Calumet errors flipped the score, and the Defenders led by two. They then made some errors, and Calumet again went back up, this time at 17-16. Ally (two) and Olivia scored kills to give Calumet a 21-17 lead, but the error bug returned and Calumet could not overcome it. Five hitting errors, the last at game point, gave Heritage the third game, 25-22.

Calumet seemed to realize that needed to step up their game as the fourth set began. Cassie started things off with an ace, and the Patriots never looked back. Defender errors and kills from Faith, Olivia and Ally led toa 7-2 Patriot lead and a Defender timeout. We made two errors coming out of the time out, but Calumet never let Heritage get closer than four. Faith really started shutting down Heritage's middle hitter, and her block at 11-7 started the Patriots on a run. Three Heritage errors started it, then kills by Lee, Kaylie and Faith followed. Heritage made some more errors, Ally and Faith had a nice double block, then Lee capped off the 13-1 run with a kill. 24-8, CCS. A mild LGFS ensued, but finally Ally put one down and the Patriots had the set and the match, winning 25-11.

A week off, then a busy week next week with Covenant, Hebron and the Tippecanoe Valley tournament. We are #10 in the Times poll and should be about sixth or seventh. Go Patriots!