Short-handed Greencastle loses to Patriots

Greencastle's Quinci Miller rises up for a spike Tuesday in the middle school gym. (Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT)

Home did not feel like home for Greencastle's volleyball team Tuesday night after a last-second change moved its JV/Varsity contest against Terre Haute North to the Greencastle Middle School gymnasium.

The Patriots didn't mind the change, knocking of the Tiger Cubs in three sets 25-19, 25-19 and 25-19.

Greencastle head coach Maggie Walters said that after having to change floors minutes before the games began, the squad didn't quite put together a full performance in any set.

"I think they were a little bit discouraged not playing on their home floor," Walter said. "They have to be able to deal with uncontrollable situations.

"They stayed composed and took care of our side of the net about 80 percent of the time. The other 20 percent of the time is where we lost the game."

Still missing several front-line players, Walters said the team attacked well but could not adapt in the back against a hard-hitting Terre Haute North side.

"We adjusted well," Walters said. "It wasn't our hitting that took us out of the game, it was our defense and our passing.

"The two girls we put up front did a good job for us tonight. It was our passing that took us out of the game."

Lead changes were quick throughout the first set as neither side grabbed a dominant position over the other and at 17-17, the opener looked as though it could go either direction.

Terre Haute North grabbed control at that point, rattling off four straight points to grab a 21-17 advantage and raced to close the set with a six-point advantage.

Set two played out in similar circumstances when the scores reached 15-15. The Patriots scoresdnine of the next 10 points to pull away and leave Greencastle staring at an 0-2 hole.

Walters said that when Terre Haute North revved up its attack late in the set, the Tiger Cubs began to lose confidence in their own attack.

"In the last few points, the other team got big kills and we just got down," Walter said. "We couldn't defend their big kills.

"We freaked out a little bit. When that happened, we couldn't put the ball away."

The third set mirrored the first two sets with the teams tied at 13-13 and the Patriots again making a run to grab a 19-14 lead.

Greencastle rallied to close the gap to 21-19 but a late service rally by the visitors cut off the comeback and left the Tiger Cubs with the loss.

The late serves hit by Terre Haute North highlighted a part of the game that Greencastle was not accustomed to seeing, according to Walters.

"The main thing was they hit deep serves consistently all night long to the back line," Walters said. "We're not used to seeing that and that was hard for them to adjust to.

Quinci Miller led the squad with eight kills and seven blocks while Taylor Stoltey added 18 assists and nine digs. Allison White added six kills and Maggie Meyer added nine digs for the Tiger Cubs.

Greencastle hosts Monrovia on Thursday and aside from playing its next match at McAnally Center, Walters wanted to see the squad get their passing game back on track for the entirety of each set.

"We need to stay consistent throughout the entire game," Walters said. "We can't just play awesome volleyball for 10 points and not the rest.

"We have to stay consistent and keep passing the ball all game."

At Greencastle Middle School