AKRON - A win over the visiting Manchester Lady Squries wouldn't have been all that surprising, but a three-game sweep was for Tippecanoe Valley volleyball coach Emily Finken.
In the Three Rivers Conference match Thursday at Valley (8-12, 1-2 TRC), the Vikings came out strong and defeated the Squires (13-9, 1-2 TRC) 25-18, 25-22, 25-13."To be honest, I didn't expect us to get out in three, but I watched a lot of film and knew where they were going, who they were setting and who their key hitters were," Finken said. "Letting my girls know that, gave them a lot of confidence."
The hitter the Vikings were focusing on was Manchester junior Tiffany Clark, who entered the match with a TRC-best 133 kills.
"She hits in pretty much one place on the court," Finken said. "So, we adjusted our block and our defense accordingly."
The scheme worked, and so did the Vikings' defense.
On the night, Valley senior Chelsea Hoffman had a team-high 20 digs, but she wasn't the only one playing on her toes. Valley also got 17 from junior Megan Bibler, 14 from senior Kaley Shewman and another 12 out of senior Linzi Ousley.
"Ball control has been the thing we've been struggling with, which is something I never thought we'd have a problem with," Finken said. "We've been practicing hard and I've been stressing that hard to these girls. It's just about the girls having confidence in themselves."
Finken may have been pleased with her team's ball control, but Manchester coach Sarah Lochner wasn't feeling the same way.
"We just couldn't hit the ball," she said. "In the first game, we had 12 hitting errors. If you can't hit the ball, you aren't going to win. You give them points every time you mess up."
In the first game, Valley capitalized on Manchester's miscues by taking a quick 9-1 lead, which the Vikings road to the 25-13 victory.
In the second game, Manchester played much better, but just couldn't get over the hump.
While Manchester was able to tie the score up six separate times in the game, Valley wouldn't give up the lead.
"You want to get the second game, just so the third one isn't such a pressure game," Lochner said.
After losing the second game 25-22, Valley closed the third with a 10-0 run, winning 25-13 and picking up its first TRC win.
Along with the defense, Valley was also led by Shewman's 11 kills and two aces, while Hoffman had seven kills and Ousley assisted on 21 kills.
In the loss, Manchester junior Malyssa Bedke had 18 assists and 17 digs, junior Meika Kennedy had 20 digs and Clark finished with seven kills.
The win is Valley's second three-game sweep of the week, the earlier being against LaVille, which is making Finken feel better about her team moving forward.
"We're going uphill from here-on-out and I don't plan on going back the other way," she said. "For a lot of these girls, it's their last season, so if they don't leave it all out there, they're going to regret it."
Manchester will be at Saturday's Fort Wayne Elmhurst Invitational, while Valley's next match is Thursday at Northfield.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY DEF. MANCHESTER 25-18, 25-22, 25-13
