Communication yields GHS win

Brynne Shuee (27) of Greencastle makes the athletic play for the point Thursday. (Banner Graphic/JAY LOCKETT)

Monrovia's volleyball team would have found it hard to criticize the Tiger Cub play Thurdsay at McAnnaly when they went down hard in three sets but GHS coach Maggie Walters is always looking for more ways to improve her team.

"When we were on, we passed and we set and we hit well," Walters said. "We did everything well. But then we had a lot of miscommunication on the court where we let the ball fall and we shouldn't have. It just simply that they weren't talking to each other."

Walters knows that communication is key when it comes to keeping leads in volleyball matches and the Tiger Cubs jumped to their leads and held on.

They beat the Bulldogs 25-15 in the first set, then kept the heat on and jumped to a 15-3 lead before Monrovia could blink.

"Our strengths are our hitters," said Allison White. "Also our passing, It is not always on but when it is on it is really good."

The Lady Tiger Cubs continued to use its size advantage over the smaller Monrovia team and squashed any chance of a second-game comeback winning 25-5.

While the team played like a solid unit despite still missing three varsity players, White says the team can still work on mixing up its own plays to give itself an advantage.

"I really think we can improve on different plays we can do," White said. "Today we did a lot of good hitting. But we can still work on sending the middle hitter for a slide or doing shorts and quicks, just to mix it up some."

In the third game Monrovia was a little more competitive to start but Greencastle pulled away after Quinci Miller made some key points and key blocks along with Brynne Shuee. Lydia and Madison Trout both came through with some good digs that kept the intensity up for the home and Taylor Stoltey led the team in assists. Greencastle won game 3, 25-13.

White said that the team focuses on staying positive to keep emotions and playing quality at a high level.

"I remember in practice we are just like, over-exaggerate every point," the middle hitter said. "Once we get a point to be super excited and the next game we were excited for every single point. It just helps so much for us to lift our spirits and believe in each other and believe in ourselves."