Despite loss, Cubs glad to ‘compete’ with Knights

Monday, October 23, 2017

DANVILLE — Only one team finishes the season with a victory. All but one team loses their final game or match. Grading the level of accomplishment and improvement is how the season-ending loss can be graded.

And from that standpoint, Greencastle’s volleyball team did well Saturday afternoon in the 3-0 loss to Northview at the Class 3A Volleyball Regional at Danville High School.

The first Greencastle sectional championship team in 15 years was far more competitive with the five-time defending regional champion then they were a month earlier in the Western Indiana Conference contest. The engine on the bus had a chance to cool this time.

“The first time (we played Northview) we just kept getting out of system because of miscommunication. Today we stayed in system. Some of our hitters were a little late to the ball, which hurt us, but we still had all three hitters as options, which was the difference between the last game we played them,” Greencastle coach Maggie Walters.

Northview’s string of regional titles ended Saturday night in a 3-2 loss to Brebeuf.

Greencastle’s most glaring and consistent weakness was passing the ball, receiving the serve and getting it to the setter.

“(Northview) served aggressively and we struggled to just relax and absorb the ball. We tended to just want to swing instead of just moving our feet,” Walters said.

The second match of the four-team regional was more competitive than the final score. Northview did dominate game one, pulling away from an early 6-4 lead to win 25-13. But in game two, the Tiger Cubs closed to within three, 16-13, on a tip kill by Jalyn Duff, before the Knights earned the 25-13 win.

Greencastle took a 4-1 lead in game three on kills by Allison Stevens and Lilly Meyer. A block by Meyer kept the Tiger Cubs on top 5-3. Northview reeled off three straight points and went ahead 7-5 before Greencastle responded with its own run and tied the game 9-9 on an Ivy Wright kill.

Northview built a 15-10 lead before Greencastle again rallied, taking advantage of the Knights’ errors to get within three, 15-12. But that was as close as the Tiger Cubs could get.

“Our goal was to exploit their weaknesses and we were able to do that at times. Not consistently enough. So the fact we were able to find their open court about 50 percent of the time was good to see as coach, because that was the scouting report all week,” Walters said.

Stevens, a sophomore, and Lilly Meyer, a freshman, led the Tiger Cubs with seven kills each. Duff, a junior, passed out 18 assists and made six digs, while Maggie Meyer, a senior, led the Tiger Cubs with 14 digs.

Winning a sectional for the first time since 2002 was a huge step for one of the smallest Class 3A teams in the state. Greencastle was 258 to 461 students smaller in enrollment than the other three teams at the Danville Regional.

Coach Walters was proud of the progress her young team made en route to the 15-11 final record.

“We’re very satisfied with the improvement. If you would look at the beginning of our season we wouldn’t have had a chance to compete with (Northview). The fact we were able to compete with them, and have our defense make plays where our hitters were able to find the ball with our setters, is a huge accomplishment for this team,” Walters said.

Greencastle graduates one senior, Maggie Meyer, and returns the rest of the sectional championship team.

“We got some freshmen and sophomores out there. We’re only losing one senior. (Maggie Meyer is) a huge leader out there, but we’re hoping these younger girls will step up for us next season,” Walters said.

Greencastle 13 13 14

Northview 25 25 25

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