NORTH MANCHESTER - In a volleyball match as tight as Tippecanoe Valley and Manchester's Thursday, it's hard to believe there were only five lead changes - and they all came in the fourth game.
Through the first three games, the team to grab the lead first led the entire way to the win, but in the fourth the Manchester Squires changed that trend, falling behind early, but coming back to win the game 25-20 and the match 3-1 in North Manchester.The Squires won the match 25-17, 13-25, 25-23, 25-20.
"We lost to Valley at our tournament here on (Aug.) 29th," Manchester head coach Sarah Lochner said. "So, we really wanted to beat Valley, and I'm glad we were able to do that."
Manchester (10-11, 2-1 Three Rivers Conference) got the TRC win behind a balanced attack, led by senior Nicole Binkley's 10 kills, followed by junior Elizabeth Schilling's eight and five from senior Tara Gnagy and junior Sheridan Wilcox.
Of Binkley's 10 kills, four came in the fourth game, with two of Manchester's final three points coming off her kills.
"In the Columbia City match and against Canterbury on Tuesday, it was the same kind of situation," Lochner said of Binkley. "We really looked to Nicole, and tonight she came through. That's great. I'm glad she was able to do that and feel comfortable doing that."
The loss is Valley's first in-conference setback, dropping them to 2-1 in the TRC and 11-8 overall.
"They pretty much had better ball control than us tonight," Valley coach Emily Finken said. "We had a lot of mental errors that we don't usually have - serving errors and we had a lot of hitting errors. It was just their night and they played better than us."
By far, Valley looked its best in Game 2, routing the Squires 25-13.
"In the second game, they were passing everything," Lochner said. "Their defense just got so much better, so it was harder for us to find court. It was just discouraging for our team, because we're not a big offensive team."
Valley did win the game, but on the whole, the night was a frustrating one for Finken.
Communication breakdowns, which resulted in a couple balls falling right in the middle of the court and teammates going over one another for digs, helped give Manchester easy points, and ultimately, the match.
"The problem we have is, we have girls who are very, very quiet - on and off the court," Finken said. "So, it's really hard to bring it out of them."
Despite the vocal silence, a few Vikings did make some noise via their play.
Jordan Satoski and Hannah Boggs each finished the match with nine kills, while Satoski also had four blocks. Kate Newsome led the Vikings with three aces and 32 assists.
"Junior Jordan Satoski has been improving through the season and senior Hannah Boggs did what she could," Finken said.
On top of Binkley's production, Manchester was led by senior Jessica Bedke's 19 assists and sophomore Meika Kennedy's 22 digs.
Saturday, Man-chester will be at the Elmhurst Tour-nament, while Valley hosts its own tournament at 10 a.m.
MANCHESTER DEF. TIPPECANOE VALLEY 25-17, 13-25, 25-23, 25-20
