Falcons Soar Past Tippecanoe Valley
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
Facing No. 6 Fairfield in the title tilt, Valley was swept in three games (25-17, 25-15, 25-11), ending its season at 18-10 at West Noble High School.
“I’m happy with our season,” first-year coach Mallory Eaton said. “I thought, ‘At least we showed up and at least we gave it our best try.’ I just would have wished for a better outcome.”
The win delivered Fairfield its 10th-consecutive sectional title, including three-straight championships since moving up to 3A.
“I didn't even know (this would be 10 in a row),” Fairfield coach Carla Herschberger said. “My husband told me. I don’t keep track of that stuff. I’m not a numbers person at all. I didn’t know that, but it’s nice, especially (to win three straight) in 3A, because that bumps it up quite a bit.”
The win moves Fairfield on to Tuesday’s regional match in Benton against No. 7 Fort Wayne Concordia.
For Valley, Eaton was working to get the message across to the girls that even though they didn’t win the match, progress was made during the season.
“I told them this was a year of firsts,” she said. “It’s my first year with them and these seniors had never even won a tournament, but we won our first this year. We were ranked in the top four of (the Three Rivers Conference) and that was a first. This was our first year, since 2006, that Valley has made it to the sectional championship. I told the girls, ‘All you need to do is keep setting the bar higher and higher.’ Our goal at the beginning of the year was just to have a winning season. We nailed that. We finished 18-10. These girls, they’re just not used to success. They’ve never really tasted it and don’t know what they’re capable of. Now, they’re seeing glimpses, but we need to work on the mental toughness.”
Early in the match, the Lady Vikings had success, leading Game 1 by an 11-10 count before Herschberger took a timeout.
Following the break, Fairfield established itself and won the game 25-17.
In Game 2, Valley once again started strong, as the two teams were knotted at 11-11, but Fairfield then reeled off 14 of the next 18 points to win 25-15.
“I wondered how we’d come out and we were with them,” Eaton said. “I think, sometimes, it surprises us. We play with some of these teams and it’s like they’re shocked, and we have the potential. We started off strong, but lost the energy and (Fairfield) was really energetic and is a well-trained team. The minute we lost our energy, girls just started panicking. Then, we just started to make the safe play instead of just going for it. In this situation, we had nothing to lose.”
Those early-game scares also made an impression on Herschberger.
“They’re a good team,” she said. “They have a lot of options on their front line. They passed pretty well today. I didn’t know if they could pass that well, but they handled our serves pretty well and their setters did a nice job of getting (the hitters) the ball.”
Valley's top player was junior Caylie Teel, who used her athleticism to posted team highes in kills (7), digs (8) and blocks (2).
“She's got that natural ability,” Eaton said of Teel. “Some kids are just born with it. You can’t teach competitive nature. Competition is in her nature. She always wants to win. She’s the heart and soul of the team, it just takes everyone else getting to her level. I’ve challenged her to bring everyone else to that level. I say, ‘You may be the best player, but you are charge of keeping these girls energetic and ready to go.’ So, she has a lot on her shoulders.”
Also for Valley, senior Kelsey Eckert had eight assists, junior Lauren Early posted seven digs and senior Sara Alexander recorded four kills.
FAIRFIELD DEF. TIPPECANOE VALLEY 25-17, 25-15, 25-11
(Class 3A Sectional 21, C'ship)
Aces – Erin Carlos (F) 4; Assists – Leah Wimmer (F) 31, Kelsey Eckert (TV) 8; Blocks – Wimmer (F) 2, Sierra Smith (F) 2, Caylie Teel (TV) 2; Digs – Carlos (F) 11, Teel (TV) 8, Kelsey Schiffli (F) 7, Lauren Early (TV) 7, Wimmer (F) 6, Lauren Streit (F) 5; Kills – Haley Brown (F) 14, Smith (F) 9, Teel (TV) 7, Hannah Stiegl (F) 5, Streit (F) 4, Sara Alexander (TV) 4
Records: Fairfield 29-7, Valley 18-10[[In-content Ad]]
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Facing No. 6 Fairfield in the title tilt, Valley was swept in three games (25-17, 25-15, 25-11), ending its season at 18-10 at West Noble High School.
“I’m happy with our season,” first-year coach Mallory Eaton said. “I thought, ‘At least we showed up and at least we gave it our best try.’ I just would have wished for a better outcome.”
The win delivered Fairfield its 10th-consecutive sectional title, including three-straight championships since moving up to 3A.
“I didn't even know (this would be 10 in a row),” Fairfield coach Carla Herschberger said. “My husband told me. I don’t keep track of that stuff. I’m not a numbers person at all. I didn’t know that, but it’s nice, especially (to win three straight) in 3A, because that bumps it up quite a bit.”
The win moves Fairfield on to Tuesday’s regional match in Benton against No. 7 Fort Wayne Concordia.
For Valley, Eaton was working to get the message across to the girls that even though they didn’t win the match, progress was made during the season.
“I told them this was a year of firsts,” she said. “It’s my first year with them and these seniors had never even won a tournament, but we won our first this year. We were ranked in the top four of (the Three Rivers Conference) and that was a first. This was our first year, since 2006, that Valley has made it to the sectional championship. I told the girls, ‘All you need to do is keep setting the bar higher and higher.’ Our goal at the beginning of the year was just to have a winning season. We nailed that. We finished 18-10. These girls, they’re just not used to success. They’ve never really tasted it and don’t know what they’re capable of. Now, they’re seeing glimpses, but we need to work on the mental toughness.”
Early in the match, the Lady Vikings had success, leading Game 1 by an 11-10 count before Herschberger took a timeout.
Following the break, Fairfield established itself and won the game 25-17.
In Game 2, Valley once again started strong, as the two teams were knotted at 11-11, but Fairfield then reeled off 14 of the next 18 points to win 25-15.
“I wondered how we’d come out and we were with them,” Eaton said. “I think, sometimes, it surprises us. We play with some of these teams and it’s like they’re shocked, and we have the potential. We started off strong, but lost the energy and (Fairfield) was really energetic and is a well-trained team. The minute we lost our energy, girls just started panicking. Then, we just started to make the safe play instead of just going for it. In this situation, we had nothing to lose.”
Those early-game scares also made an impression on Herschberger.
“They’re a good team,” she said. “They have a lot of options on their front line. They passed pretty well today. I didn’t know if they could pass that well, but they handled our serves pretty well and their setters did a nice job of getting (the hitters) the ball.”
Valley's top player was junior Caylie Teel, who used her athleticism to posted team highes in kills (7), digs (8) and blocks (2).
“She's got that natural ability,” Eaton said of Teel. “Some kids are just born with it. You can’t teach competitive nature. Competition is in her nature. She always wants to win. She’s the heart and soul of the team, it just takes everyone else getting to her level. I’ve challenged her to bring everyone else to that level. I say, ‘You may be the best player, but you are charge of keeping these girls energetic and ready to go.’ So, she has a lot on her shoulders.”
Also for Valley, senior Kelsey Eckert had eight assists, junior Lauren Early posted seven digs and senior Sara Alexander recorded four kills.
FAIRFIELD DEF. TIPPECANOE VALLEY 25-17, 25-15, 25-11
(Class 3A Sectional 21, C'ship)
Aces – Erin Carlos (F) 4; Assists – Leah Wimmer (F) 31, Kelsey Eckert (TV) 8; Blocks – Wimmer (F) 2, Sierra Smith (F) 2, Caylie Teel (TV) 2; Digs – Carlos (F) 11, Teel (TV) 8, Kelsey Schiffli (F) 7, Lauren Early (TV) 7, Wimmer (F) 6, Lauren Streit (F) 5; Kills – Haley Brown (F) 14, Smith (F) 9, Teel (TV) 7, Hannah Stiegl (F) 5, Streit (F) 4, Sara Alexander (TV) 4
Records: Fairfield 29-7, Valley 18-10[[In-content Ad]]
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