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Tiger Cubs lose to WCC champ Cadets
CLAYTON -- Going into their match Wednesday night, both Greencastle and Cascade understood that the West Central Conference volleyball title was effectively on the line.
The Cadets sat at 4-0 and a win would complete a perfect conference slate. The Tiger Cubs entered the night 3-0 with a match against South Putnam waiting Thursday night.
After splitting the first two sets, a costly error late in the third allowed Cascade to take the third set before clinching the WCC crown a set later in a 25-22, 23-25, 25-18 and 25-20 win over Greencastle.
A week after suggesting that energy at the start of the match would be important, Greencastle head coach Maggie Walters said the squad came out flatter than it could afford.
"We didn't have a lot of energy in the first game," Walters admitted. "Our hitters weren't hitting as hard as they could. They were tentative going up to the ball."
The hosts, celebrating senior night, came out of the gates firing but after the early exchanges, the Tiger Cubs held a 10-9 lead.
Problems arose for the visitors, though, in the form of junior Jacey Lewis and Walters said that the Cadets' middle blocker stunted Greencastle's attack.
"In the beginning, we couldn't hit around (Lewis). We had to change up our offense and start tipping to get around her because we had not seen a blocker like her in the middle."
Unable to attack like it normally does, Greencastle could not stop the hosts when Lewis started a six-point swing to give the Cadets a 20-14 lead. Cascade rode out the set for a 1-0 advantage in the match.
The visitors struck back in the second set, regaining some of the confidence lost in the opening set to open up an 18-10 lead and looked to kill of the set at 24-17.
Cascade nearly completed a comeback when it cut the gap down to 24-23. Allison White finally put away a shot that got the Tiger Cubs over the line and tied at 1-1 in the match.
Walters said that relaxing against a team of Cascade's caliber was a mistake.
"We had the lead but we got relaxed and made silly errors," Walters said. "We couldn't put the ball away.
"When we had our energy and had the momentum, we controlled the net. When we didn't, that's when we started making errors and they started getting points on us."
The hosts carried the momentum from the second set to a 14-7 lead in the third, spurring the Cadets on to a 25-18 third-set win.
Walters said that the squad wasn't able to mentally adjust after the unforced error.
"I think it discouraged them a little bit," Walters said. "Sometimes, when things go against us, they'll dwell on it too long and won't forget about it and just move on."
With the conference title hanging in the balance, Cascade jumped out to another early lead only for the Tiger Cubs to rally behind the service of White to take a 14-12 lead.
With the squads neck and neck in the final set, the experience of the Cadets in high pressure situations shone through. Cascade calmly pulled away after taking a 19-18 lead and claimed the WCC title they lost last season to Cloverdale.
Jessica Lenihan led the squad with 13 kills while White added eight kills. Taylor Stoltey put up 37 assists and 17 digs, Olivia Divine had 17 digs and eight kills and Quinci Miller compiled 16 digs and four blocks.
"This team hasn't been in this position before," Walters said. "None of them have ever had the conference on the line. I don't think they were quite ready for what Cascade was going to bring."
Greencastle closes conference play Thursday night by hosting South Putnam.
At Cascade
Greencastle.....22 25 18 20
Cascade..........25 23 25 25
Next Match: Greencastle hosts South Putnam Thursday.