Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NORTH MANCHESTER - Although Manchester was the host of the 1999 Manchester High School Volleyball Invitational, Tippecanoe Valley stole the show.
After defeating each team in the tourney (Manchester, Triton and Caston), Valley's undefeated season record remained intact.
In the first contest of the day, Valley faced the Triton Trojans. In the first match, the Vikings jumped out to what looked like a commanding 11-3 lead, but the Trojans refused to give in.
Rachel Speicher stepped to the serving line and led Triton to four straight points to make the score 12-9 in Valley's favor.
Valley went up 14-10 but lost possession and Speicher stepped to the line again. Again, she served four straight points to knot the score at 14. After trading points once more, the score was 15-15 when Valley's Inga Vandermark served up two points to win the match 17-15.
In the second Valley-Triton matchup, the lead switched back and forth from the Vikings to the Trojans several times until the score was tied at 11. Triton's Brandie Ganshorn served up a Trojan point to make the score 12-11, but Valley's Jennifer Studebaker served four straight points to give the Vikings a 15-12 win.
"Triton is an excellent team," said Valley coach Jon Parker. "They play a tough schedule aginst some state-ranked teams. I'm happy that we could win this one."
"Valley finished the games," said Triton coach Gayle Perry. "We started very poorly in the first game but came back to take the lead. For us, it's just a matter of learning how to win. We need to stay strong and finish the game when we can."
The Vikings then moved to their next match against the Manchester Squires who defeated Caston in their first match of the day. The Squires jumped out to an early lead as Jenny Brubaker and Jennifer Jester combined for four points to put Manchester up 4-1. That would be the last time Valley would allow Manchester to score as Jamie Doud, Kyleigh Gast and Lacey Stump combined for 14 points to give Valley the 15-4 win.
In game two of the match, Valley scored nine unanswered points before Joni West put the Squires on the board with one point. The Vikings were up 14-5 when Megan Goshert led the Manchester squad to five stright points to make the score 14-10. However, the Vikings stopped the Manchester run and Kristi Rudd served up the winning point for Valley.
"For the past few years, Manchester has seemed to have our number in this tourney," said Parker. "To come over here and defeat them was good for us."
"We got in a mental slump in the middle of the first game against Valley," said Manchester coach Jessica Tate. "In the second game we were down but we fought back and gave them a run. I am very proud of the way the team came back."
Then Manchester, now 1-1 in the tourney, prepared to face off against Triton, also 1-1 in the tourney after defeating Caston 15-2, 15-2. Triton jumped out to an early lead when Emily Yankovich started the game by serving three points. At one point, the Trojans had built an 11-5 lead, but the Squires fought their way back to come within two, 11-9, after Jessica Hicks served up four points, including two aces. However, Triton refused to get rattled and earned a 15-11 win.
Triton came on strong in the second match against Manchester, and Yankovich and Missy Nifong combined for six early points. After Manchester scored two on serves by Hicks, the Trojans outscored the Squires seven to one and pulled out a 15-3 win.
"We are growing," said Perry. "We got better every match today. We are improving."
Valley defeated Caston in its last match of the day to remain undefeated, while Triton finished the day 2-1 and Manchester ended the tournament 1-2.
The coaches voted Valley's Jennifer Studebaker the MVP of the tourney.
"Hopefully we can use the first match as a confidence booster for the rest of the season," said Tate. "Now the team can see their ability and build on it as the season progresses."
"We have a great group of kids," said Perry. "They want to be winners. The are still a little tentative, but they are improving every day."
"I'm very happy with the way our girls played today," said Parker. "This is a good start for our program this year. The team is really starting to come together. We're 7-0, and I don't know how I could be any happier."
MANCHESTER TOURNEY
Round One
Tippecanoe Valley def. Triton 17-15, 15-12
Manchester def. Caston 15-2, 15-2
Round Two
Tippecanoe Valley def. Manchester 15-4, 15-10
Triton def. Caston 15-2, 15-2
Round Three
Triton def. Manchester 15-11, 15-3
Valley def. Caston 15-5, 15-13
Team Champion -ÊTippecanoe Valley
MVP -ÊJennifer Studebaker, Tippecanoe Valley
Current Records
Tippecanoe Valley 7-0
Triton 5-4
Manchester 1-4
Valley Leaders -ÊJamie Doud 98 assists, 30 points, 2 aces; Inga Vandermark 13 points, 3 aces; Lynette Wilcox 11 points, 17 kills, 25 blocks; Jennifer Studebaker 16 kills, 12 blocks; Tars Baker 5 kills, 5 blocks; Kyleigh Gasy 5 kills, 6 blocks.
Triton Leaders -ÊEmily Yankovich 21 kills, 7 aces; Brandie Ganshorn 19 kills, 13 digs; Melissa Claxon 43 assists; Missy Nifong 14 blocks.
Manchester Leaders -ÊJessica Hicks 8 kills, 3 blocks; Ann Harms 4 kills, 7 blocks; Joni West 9 assists; Jennifer Jester 6 assists; Jenny Olsen 4 digs; Megan Goshert 8 digs.
