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Tiger Cubs pick up first win against Sullivan
Coming into its Wednesday night match 0-3 and trailing Sullivan 21-12 in the first set, Greencastle's volleyball squad looked to be in for another long night at McAnally Center.
Instead, the Tiger Cubs rallied to close the margin to a point and, though they lost the opening set, the momentum from the late charge saw the hosts smash the Golden Arrows in four sets 23-25, 25-10, 25-6 and 25-19.
Greencastle head coach Maggie Walters said that the squad, without a confidence-building win before the match, still came to play in the right state of mind.
"They all have positive attitudes," Walters said. "That's our biggest change in the last week and it showed tonight. The bench players and the court players all had positive attitudes and that's huge."
The squad needed to be tough as it dropped into a quick 4-0 hole against the visitors and trailed by nine several times after a 7-0 Sullivan run midway through the opener.
After the Golden Arrows took the 21-12 lead, the hosts stormed back into the match and closed the gap down to 23-22. Neither side held serve but the gap was sufficient enough for Sullivan to take the back-and-forth points toward a 25-23 set win.
Walters noted that while the squad did not quite get the first win, the rush set the team on its way in the next three sets.
"In the beginning, they weren't talking at all," Walters said. "I told the girls that we would not win the game unless we started talking. That's what they did and brought the game back. They didn't win the first set but they went and won the next three."
A 7-4 second-set lead for the Tiger Cubs quickly blossomed into a 17-6 lead behind a service game that recorded six aces in the round and flummoxed Sullivan for much of the second and third sets.
Unable to hold off Greencastle's wave of confidence, the visitors fell 25-10 and capitulated in the third set.
The Tiger Cubs rolled through Sullivan's defense with separate 9-0 and 7-0 runs, leading to a 25-6 win, a byproduct of a home squad that was riding high and attacking the Golden Arrow defense.
The momentum gained late in the first set carried over to the rest of the match and Walters said the shift changed the way the squad attacked Sullivan.
"It was huge," Walters said. "It was the whole reason we came out as we did in the second, third and fourth sets. That momentum swing changed the entire match.
"They started swinging at the ball. They weren't afraid to go up for big hits and put aggressive serves over the net."
Having won their first two sets of the season, Greencastle needed one more set to win their first match of the year. Sullivan, though, finally snapped back into the game and pushed the home side in the fourth set.
The Tiger Cubs jumped out to a 6-2 lead before the visitors rallied to tie the match at 8-8 and take the lead on the next point.
The Golden Arrows held the lead until Greencastle tied the score at 15-15. The hosts took the lead for good at 17-16 and chiseled away at the scoreline, winning five of their last six points on kills.
Olivia Divine led the offense with 11 kills, 10 digs and four aces while Quinci Miller added 12 blocks, 10 kills and five digs. Taylor Stoltey served up 31 assists and Danielle Thomas added nine digs.
Walters said she did not doubt that the squad would be able to finish the game off when the time came.
"They never got down on themselves," Walters said. "They stayed up the entire time and I wasn't worried that they wouldn't get the fourth set."
With the squad's first win of the season, Walters thought that the effect would push the squad higher heading into the Brown County Invitational on Saturday.
"Getting a win is huge," Walters said. "It's going to build their confidence for the rest of the season. We needed this first win to continue progressing into the season.
"They're up, positive and excited right now. I know they're going to take that into Saturday's matches and they're going to come out strong."
At Greencastle
Sullivan 25 10 6 19
Greencastle 23 25 25 25
Next Match: Greencastle (1-3) will participate in the Brown County Invitational Saturday.