GHS volleyball gains experience in loss

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Every time the Greencastle volleyball team has taken the floor this season, it has done so with a mostly inexperienced team.

The trick is, though, as those "inexperienced" players continue to play, the label no longer applies.

Greencastle senior Olivia Miller puts a kill past a Sullivan defender in Wednesday night's three-game loss to the Golden Arrows.

The Tiger Cubs lost to Sullivan in three games Wednesday, 25-14, 30-28, 25-17. However, with the season only about a week old, coach Trish Lowe is already seeing a greatly improved team.

"We have basically a nucleus of three players with experience," Lowe said. "After that, we're pretty inexperienced.

"We are doing a great job -- we are improving every time we step on the court," she continued. "The team who just beat us is a sectional champion who has pretty much the same group. That's a good team. If you compare the way we played just now to the way we played a week ago, we are improving by leaps and bounds."

In the match, the improvement of the GHS squad showed between games one and two.

Game one was all Sullivan. The Tiger Cubs scored the first point only to see the Golden Arrows take the next three.

Sullivan steadily built a lead, with Greencastle failing to score consecutive points until reeling off four straight to make the game 21-14 in Sullivan's favor. But the Arrows took the next three points to close game one.

But in game two, the Tiger Cubs dug a little deeper, and gave Sullivan and the fans the game of the night.

The Tiger Cubs trailed in the early going, but fired five consecutive points on the service of junior Brooke Lewis to take an 11-9 lead.

The battle continued, with neither squad able to take more than a four-point advantage. The Tiger Cubs had the first chance to close the game, only to see Sullivan tie it at 24.

Play continued, with the teams trading the lead and ties through eight more points.

All told, game two saw six lead changes and an amazing 14 ties.

Ultimately, though, the poise of the Arrows won out. They got the winning point on a kill from senior Alyssa Chagnon.

While the loss of such a hard-fought game could have deflated the Tiger Cubs, they actually came out to an early lead in the third game, going up 5-1. Another run by Sullivan gave them a lead they would not relinquish.

After a 7-7 tie, Sullivan remained in the lead throughout. Both teams had their spurts, but the Arrows' seemed a little longer.

After the Tiger Cubs pulled to within one at 18-17, Sullivan put together seven straight points, including three late aces from Chagnon.

"It's a loss, yes, but I'm happy with the way we played," Lowe said. "Our defense is much better. Our communication and just our basic work ethic are better."

Senior Olivia Miller led the Cubs with nine kills, 21 digs, 10 blocks and two stuffs. Kelsie Hennette had 17 assists.

Kristen Flint had 9 blocks and three stuffs, and Lewis had 20 digs.

Hennette, Lewis and Veronica Sawyer each had two service aces.

The Tiger Cubs are now 1-3. They open their WCC schedule at 10 a.m. Saturday when they travel to Speedway.

"We have a lot of things to do, we have a lot of things to improve, but it's a long time between now and Oct. 15 (sectional)," Lowe said. "I'm happy with our play."

The Tiger Cub junior varsity picked up its first win of the season, moving to 1-4 with a three-game win over Sullivan.

At Greencastle

Varsity results

Sullivan 25 30 25

Greencastle 14 28 17

Individual statistics

(GHS only)

Kills -- Miller 9, Flint 4, Nobles 2, Land 2, Sawyer 1, Lewis 1

Aces -- Sawyer 2, Lewis 2, Hennette 2, Miller 1, Nobles 1

Blocks -- Miller 10, Flint 9

Stuffs -- Flint 3, Miller 2

Digs -- Miller 21, Lewis 13

Assists -- Hennette 17

Junior Varsity results

Greencastle 2, Sullivan 1

Next match -- Greencastle travels to Speedway at 10 a.m. Saturday.

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