Tiger Cubs stay hot, beat South Vermillion in five

Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Greencastle junior Quinci Miller sneaks the ball past the South Vermillion defense as teammates Shelby Earl (27) and Taylor Stoltey (11) look on. (Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT)

Greencastle's volleyball squad is carrying something that the team has not had a lot of in the last couple of seasons: momentum.

As the Tiger Cubs approach their first county and WCC match of the season, the squad held off South Vermillion in five sets 25-13, 15-25, 25-17, 24-26 and 15-4.

After winning three of their last four matches, the hosts came out quickly. Greencastle built a 10-3 lead that grew as large as 13 points, winning the first set by a comfortable margin.

Greencastle head coach Maggie Walters said that the precision of the squad carried them through the opener.

"We came out strong in the first set," Walters said. "We didn't make any errors and that's why the score looked like it did. We let South Vermillion make the errors."

With as comfortable as the first game had been, the Tiger Cubs went deep into the rotation in the second set. The result was a set as comfortable for the Wildcats as the first set had been for the hosts.

Walters said the squad members that got extended time weren't quite ready for the occasion.

"We decided to put the bench players in and see what they could do," Walters said. "They started to commit errors. They got jumbled up because the lineup was different."

The change in squad rotation continued to throw off the Tiger Cubs early in the third set as South Vermillion shot out to a 6-2 lead. A quick 7-0 run settled Greencastle's nerves and set up a tense third set.

Both sides struggled to hold on to the serve after the hosts took the lead. Ahead 15-13, Greencastle finally made a move, scoring 10 of the last 14 points to win the third set by eight points.

South Vermillion responded by taking a 9-1 lead to start the fourth set only to watch the lead evaporate when the Tiger Cubs tied the round at 14-all.

The Wildcats settled back down and seemed poised to win the set after scoring nine of the next 13 points. Greencastle made another furious rally to tie the score at 24-24, then watched the visitors claim the last two points to tie the match at two sets each.

After the way the fourth set finished, Walters said the instructions for the final round were simple.

"They had to stay up," Walters said. "They got down on themselves. They would miss a pass or a dig and get down. In the fifth set, we told them to not get down about mistakes. That's what they went out there and did."

Nine straight points after a 2-2 start saw Greencastle on its way to its fourth win in five matches and a .500 record for the season.

The talented junior class led the way for GHS. Olivia Divine led at the net, finishing with 22 kills and saving 10 digs. Quinci Miller had 10 kills, eight digs and six blocks and Taylor Stoltey had 36 assists. Senior Shelby Earl had three aces.

The match preceded the Tiger Cubs first county match-up with Cloverdale and Walters said that the squad was geared up for their first meeting with the Clovers.

"We're ready," Walters said. "We have to really work on hitting our sets and being smart with our balls. We can volley with anyone. As long as we keep the ball in and we're not making the errors, we can hang with anyone."

With as different a lineup as Cloverdale features this year from their WCC-winning squad of 2012, Walters said the team had to anticipate a different kind of attack.

"We have to watch for sloppy balls coming over the net," Walters said. "They're not going to have as many big kills. The setter will junk the ball and their hitters will tip the ball.

"They're not going to come out with big swings so we have to be ready on defense and quick on our feet."

Greencastle (4-4) plays at Cloverdale on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.



At Greencastle
South Vermillion..........13 25 17 26 4
Greencastle..................25 15 25 24 15

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