Whitko Spikers Edge TRC Foe Manchester
August 26, 2016 at 4:30 p.m.
Whitko Spikers Edge TRC Foe Manchester
By Mark [email protected]
Something like the cardio kids.
On Tuesday, the Lady Wildcats came back from two sets down to claim a win over Whitley County rival Columbia City.
Thursday night, they took an early lead, then fell behind to Manchester before coming back to win 26-24, 23-25, 22-25, 25-18, 15-13 in a pre-arranged non-conference matchup of Three Rivers Conference teams.
The see-saw affair began with Whitko taking a 19-10 lead in the first set, then the host Lady Squires came back to tie the game at 24 before Whitko pulled out the two-point win, capped by a Brooke Christoffel kill.
Manchester carried over the momentum into the second set, taking a 15-10 lead before it was Whitko’s turn to come back and take a 19-18 lead. The Lady Squires took seven of the last 11 points in the game to tie the match at one set each.
After the Lady Squires took the third set by three points, the fourth set was tied at 18 before Whitko scored the last seven points to tie the match.
The final set featured six ties, the last at 9-9, before Whitko ripped off four points in a row and five of six to take a 14-10 lead. Manchester’s final push came up one point short of re-tying the set.
“Sometimes you get in a match and neither team is playing at a level to take a hold of the match,” Whitko head coach Mike Howard said. “You just hope that you catch the right game and get the right number dialed-up at the end. We were able to do that tonight.
“We played our cleanest match at the end, in the fifth set, and that was helpful for us.”
When Manchester fell behind big early, it looked like it might be a long night for the Lady Squires. But head coach Rebekah Haynes said she was pleased with the resiliency her team showed.
“Tonight, we knew we needed to get up some good blocks. They’ve got a good offense that we needed to be ready for, and we needed to adjust a little bit sooner than we did in that first set,” she said.
“I think it showed mental toughness on the part of my team, being able to come back from a (nine-point) deficit, and not losing that drive to keep pushing and coming back from behind. It’s a tough loss after coming from behind to lose in five, but there’s a lot of positives we can find from it, too.
Whitko was led by senior Kaity Reed, who finished with 27 kills and three blocks in the match.
“She stepped up her game a little bit; she was struggling a little bit for a while,” Howard said. “She’s solid for us defensively, she does a great job passing, and sometimes when you’re a dynamic hitter, if you’re not in rhythm, it takes a while to get it. But she was finding ways to score for us, and she really did a nice job at the end of the match.”
Haley Yohe had 48 assists for the Lady Wildcats, and Kristina Slater had 19 digs.
Cierra Carter had 16 kills for Manchester, and Kendra Auler had 17 assists.
Howard, in his first year at Whitko, said his team is making adjustments to a new coaching system, but is persevering in spite of some obstacles early in the season.
“We’re transitioning from different systems, different responsibilities, different expectations, I think,” said Howard. “So sometimes after a long match, kids are a little bit banged up. We have some kids nursing some knee problems, some hip problems. We’re not very deep, so kids play a lot of minutes on the court, and take a lot of swings. So we need to figure out how to get them some rest.
“But sometimes, a win is a win, and that was the case tonight.”
Manchester took the junior varsity match in straight sets, 25-13, 25-5, over Whitko.
Whitko improved to 3-0 and will play in the Westview Invitational Saturday. Manchester will take a 1-1 record into its invitational Saturday.
WHITKO 3, MANCHESTER 2
W 26 23 22 25 15
M 24 25 25 18 13
Whitko: Aces – Kaity Reed 3, Kristina Slater 3, Brianna Tackett 3; Assists – Haley Yohe 48; Blocks – Brooke Christoffel 3, Reed 3; Digs – Slater 19, Tackett 15, Reed 12; Kills – Reed 27, Tackett 7, Christoffel 7.
Manchester: Kills – Cierra Carter 16, Kennedy Rosen 6, Sydney Day 4, Anna Osborne 3, Kendra Auler 3, Emma Casper 2, Mattie McKee 1. Assists – Auler 17; Aces – Rosen 3, Auler 3, West 2, Casper 1; Blocks: Osborne 2, Day 1; Digs – West 16, Carter 15, Casper 11, Day 8, Wagoner 4, McKee 1, Rosen 1.
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Something like the cardio kids.
On Tuesday, the Lady Wildcats came back from two sets down to claim a win over Whitley County rival Columbia City.
Thursday night, they took an early lead, then fell behind to Manchester before coming back to win 26-24, 23-25, 22-25, 25-18, 15-13 in a pre-arranged non-conference matchup of Three Rivers Conference teams.
The see-saw affair began with Whitko taking a 19-10 lead in the first set, then the host Lady Squires came back to tie the game at 24 before Whitko pulled out the two-point win, capped by a Brooke Christoffel kill.
Manchester carried over the momentum into the second set, taking a 15-10 lead before it was Whitko’s turn to come back and take a 19-18 lead. The Lady Squires took seven of the last 11 points in the game to tie the match at one set each.
After the Lady Squires took the third set by three points, the fourth set was tied at 18 before Whitko scored the last seven points to tie the match.
The final set featured six ties, the last at 9-9, before Whitko ripped off four points in a row and five of six to take a 14-10 lead. Manchester’s final push came up one point short of re-tying the set.
“Sometimes you get in a match and neither team is playing at a level to take a hold of the match,” Whitko head coach Mike Howard said. “You just hope that you catch the right game and get the right number dialed-up at the end. We were able to do that tonight.
“We played our cleanest match at the end, in the fifth set, and that was helpful for us.”
When Manchester fell behind big early, it looked like it might be a long night for the Lady Squires. But head coach Rebekah Haynes said she was pleased with the resiliency her team showed.
“Tonight, we knew we needed to get up some good blocks. They’ve got a good offense that we needed to be ready for, and we needed to adjust a little bit sooner than we did in that first set,” she said.
“I think it showed mental toughness on the part of my team, being able to come back from a (nine-point) deficit, and not losing that drive to keep pushing and coming back from behind. It’s a tough loss after coming from behind to lose in five, but there’s a lot of positives we can find from it, too.
Whitko was led by senior Kaity Reed, who finished with 27 kills and three blocks in the match.
“She stepped up her game a little bit; she was struggling a little bit for a while,” Howard said. “She’s solid for us defensively, she does a great job passing, and sometimes when you’re a dynamic hitter, if you’re not in rhythm, it takes a while to get it. But she was finding ways to score for us, and she really did a nice job at the end of the match.”
Haley Yohe had 48 assists for the Lady Wildcats, and Kristina Slater had 19 digs.
Cierra Carter had 16 kills for Manchester, and Kendra Auler had 17 assists.
Howard, in his first year at Whitko, said his team is making adjustments to a new coaching system, but is persevering in spite of some obstacles early in the season.
“We’re transitioning from different systems, different responsibilities, different expectations, I think,” said Howard. “So sometimes after a long match, kids are a little bit banged up. We have some kids nursing some knee problems, some hip problems. We’re not very deep, so kids play a lot of minutes on the court, and take a lot of swings. So we need to figure out how to get them some rest.
“But sometimes, a win is a win, and that was the case tonight.”
Manchester took the junior varsity match in straight sets, 25-13, 25-5, over Whitko.
Whitko improved to 3-0 and will play in the Westview Invitational Saturday. Manchester will take a 1-1 record into its invitational Saturday.
WHITKO 3, MANCHESTER 2
W 26 23 22 25 15
M 24 25 25 18 13
Whitko: Aces – Kaity Reed 3, Kristina Slater 3, Brianna Tackett 3; Assists – Haley Yohe 48; Blocks – Brooke Christoffel 3, Reed 3; Digs – Slater 19, Tackett 15, Reed 12; Kills – Reed 27, Tackett 7, Christoffel 7.
Manchester: Kills – Cierra Carter 16, Kennedy Rosen 6, Sydney Day 4, Anna Osborne 3, Kendra Auler 3, Emma Casper 2, Mattie McKee 1. Assists – Auler 17; Aces – Rosen 3, Auler 3, West 2, Casper 1; Blocks: Osborne 2, Day 1; Digs – West 16, Carter 15, Casper 11, Day 8, Wagoner 4, McKee 1, Rosen 1.
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