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Versailles survives superb Twin Valley South defensive effort; Anna advances October 24, 2005 By Jim Jicha “I tip my hat to Twin Valley South. I’ve never seen them play defense like that”. Those were the words of Versailles Coach Jeremy Riley after his Tigers survived a remarkable defensive effort by Twin Valley South to win their Division III Sectional Championship match 25-15, 23-25, 19-25, 25-23, 15-5 Saturday at Brookville High School. It was 6th ranked Versailles’ sixth straight sectional title in what is now their most winning season ever, but they came very close to being eliminated by the 16th ranked Panthers. Twin Valley put on a great serve receiving and passing show that in turn sparked their offense, and they matched the Tigers point for point in the middle three games. The Panthers had won 19 in a row, having beaten Bellbrook and Division I Lancaster. Their two losses were to Sidney Fairlawn and Frankfort Adena in Lehman Catholic’s tournament on September 3. (That was one tough tournament. Adena’s only loss came there too, when Lehman beat them in the semifinal.) Versailles also had but two losses, to St. Henry and Marion Local. Their 7-2 finish in the MAC was five games better than two years ago when they were only 2-7 and yet finished State Runner-Up. Getting on with the action, the first game belonged to Versailles, as they roared out to a 16-6 lead and won 25-15. Junior middle Melissa Heft scored the game winner. The fact that Twin Valley stayed with the Tigers the latter part of the game did not appear ominous at the time – teams cool down after a big run and then pick it up again. But in retrospect, Twin Valley’s middle hitter Kate McCoy pounded four kills and added a block down the stretch, and that was a precursor of things to come. The second game was one of the best I’ve seen all year, with intense volleys, great blocking, diving digs, and smart hitting. Only nine points came on errors, some after heroic efforts kept a volley alive. Versailles drew first blood on a booming block by 6’1” sophomore setter/outside hitter Justine Raterman, but Panther sophomore Maggie McCollum tied it with a kill and McCoy scored on a block. The Tigers went up 4-2 on two Twin Valley errors and a kill by Heft. After a kill by Raterman made, McCoy and Kate McCollum tied it at 5. Versailles again went up by two on a tip by Stacey Reed and a short set spike by Heft, but a net serve left the score at 7-6. Kate McCollum then spiked two kills off nice sets by sophomore Debbie Brubaker. That put Twin Valley up 8-7 and, although the score was tied ten more times, Versailles never led again in the game. Both teams came up with big plays as the scoring went back and forth. Versailles tied at 12 on a left handed hit by Laura Grilliot and a tip to the left line by sophomore Emily Bohman. Twin Valley scored on a tip by Danyel Lipps with McCoy faking in the middle, and Raterman terminated the next volley. Lipps scored off a backset from Brubaker, and Raterman followed with a block on McCoy after a teammate's pancake at the net. Sophomore Kate Ervin spiked Twin Valley to a 15-14 edge and Bohman tied it with a kill. On the next volley, a Twin Valley a spike sailed out of bounds, but Versailles was in the net, enabling the Panthers to stay one up in the point trading. Heft retied it with a kill after great digs from both sides, but the Panthers then scored twice. Versailles tied on a net serve and a service ace by setter Erin Keiser. Kate McCollum blocked a Tiger hit into their back court, and Raterman blocked a tip into a hole. Twin Valley went up 21-19 as McCoy pounded a kill off Raterman’s block, but Versailles scored twice, getting a tip from Raterman and a block of McCoy by Bohman to tie at 22. Ervin and Heft traded kills to make it 23-23. But Twin Valley then got a free ball and Kate McCollom put the Panthers at game point. Ervin followed by lofting a soft hit into a hole to tie the match at 1-1. Versailles started the scoring in game three with an ace that sat on the net and dropped in, after which Raterman and Mallorie Bland teamed up for a block on McCoy. Maggie McCollum scored twice for Twin Valley, but each kill was followed by a Panther service error, and Versailles gradually built an 11-6 lead. Twin Valley rallied for four, but kills by Stacey Reed, Bohman and Raterman kept the Tigers on top. Bohman made a great play, two handing a bad set into a hole. But after a kill by Heft put Versailles up 17-15, Twin Valley followed with a 10-2 rampage and won the game. Kate McCollum spiked a Brubaker short set, Ervin served an ace, and Lipps spiked a termination shot. Heft retied it at 18, and Versailles might have gone back on top, but Ervin made a great one-hand save of a tip and Kate McCollum put Twin Valley up to stay. With the Panthers up 21-19, McCoy ended an intense volley with a kill, Maggie McCollum served an ace, and Lipps spiked a kill. McCoy won a battle in the middle with Raterman, rejecting her spike then hammering the game winner off her block. Raterman started off game four with a termination, but Twin Valley quickly moved up 3-1 on two kills by McCoy. Versailles then stepped up their play and the result was a six point rally, as Raterman scored two kills and a block and Brand served an ace. Twin Valley kept their poise and closed to 11-10. Versailles used another six point rally with Raterman getting two more kills and a block, Bohman scoring twice and Grilliot serving an ace. That put the Tigers up 17-10. McCoy started a Panther rally with two kills. A net serve appeared to dash the Panther’s hopes, but Versailles was once again caught in the net on an errant Panther hit, and McCoy scored two more as the Panthers crept to within 19-16. One of her kills was actually a save where she popped an errant pass near the pole into Versailles' backcourt. Bohman and Kate McCollum traded kills after which Versailles moved ahead 22-17. And that's when Twin Valley took Versailles to the brink. Brubaker put up a great set which Kate McCollum demolished. Lipps spiked a kill, and Versailles took a timeout. But that was to no avail as McCollum demolished an overpass of Ervin’s serve. Maggie McCollum followed with a kill and Kate demolished another serve overpass. With the teams now locked at 22-all, Versailles called timeout again. This time it worked as Brand scored on a soft high tip off a Panther block, and on the next volley Twin Valley was in the net. Kate McCollom kept Twin Valley alive with a nice pop from the middle to the left line. But Raterman smoked a cross court kill for game point, forcing a fifth game. The tiebreaker belonged to the Tigers, as Keiser served them to a 9-0 lead. Two points came on aces, and Raterman added three kills and a block. The scoring then went pretty much back and forth until Versailles reached the magic number. Heft scored Versailles' final four points on kills. Coach Riley said he liked his team’s chances after they won game four, noting they had won in situations like that before against tough opponents like New Knoxville, Fort Recovery and New Bremen. He told his setters to go to the middles in game five. Which they did! By the way, if you are interested in who to watch next year, Twin Valley started five sophomores, counting libero Cailee Bryant. Versailles started two juniors and two sophomores. ***************************************************** Anna had an easier time with Brookville as the Rockets won 25-15, 25-19, 25-12. Although Brookville hosted the tournament, they were the visitors on the scoreboard. Speaking of next year, Anna came to Brookville ranked 8th and their top seven players include four juniors and two frosh! And, speaking of Sidney Lehman’s tournament, Anna was in that one too, losing to Lehman in the final 22-25, 33-31, 7-15. Brookville got off to a 3-0 lead with junior middle Joy Maxel spiking and blocking for two of the points. Outside hitter Rachel Billing started a Rocket rally with a kill to Brookville's backcourt. Then 6’2” junior Kelli Barhorst and senior Diane Albers scored kills, and Barhorst blocked a tip to make it 4-3. Maxel tied it with a tip into a hole, but Anna moved on top for good as Barhorst crushed a short set from freshman setter Kelsie Zumberger. The Rockets moved up 10-6 on kills by Albers and Billing. The Blue Devils crept within one at 10-9, and again at 11-10, on two well placed hits by outside Nikki Richardson and an ace on the back line by Nicole Snedeker. Anna scored three more as freshman middle Laura Gehret pounded a kill down the line, Barhorst found a hole and Brookville hit one out after Rocket defender Kathy Buehler made a diving dig save. On the next volley Anna was in the net, and Brookville setter Erika Peters cut the margin to 14-12 with an ace. Anna then rocketed away (pun intended). Barhorst smoked a short set and blocked an overpass, Billing served an ace, and Albers scored two kills. Richardson stopped the run but Anna scored six of the last eight to end it. The Rockets never trailed in game two although it was tied three times when it was only 3-3! Anna then rallied for five as Albers spiked a kill, Zumberger scored on a dump, Gehret spiked a short set and Albers served an ace. The Rockets kept rolling and soon were up by a 17-6 count. Maxel gave them a brief pause with a kill, and followed up with two blocks against Barhorst. She then blocked Albers who averted a fourth straight point with a pancake, after which the Blue Devils made a hitting error. What goes around comes around and Zumberger blocked Maxel. A short set spike by Barhorst made it 20-9. And although Brookville would score the next five points and go on a 10-5 run, it was too late. Richardson sparked the 5-point rally with three short serves. Two ended up as aces, and Maxel cratered Anna’s overpass of the third. Zumberger ended another four point Blue Devil rally, and the game, with a short set kill. Anna led all the way in the final frame, although Brookville stayed in it awhile, thanks to determined all around play by Snedeker, and nice defense by Jaime Mitrisin. But with the score 7-6, Albers smashed a kill down the left side and followed with an ace and soon it was 10-6. And after another kill by Snedeker, Anna blew the game open with an 8-0 run. Zumberger served two aces, Gehret had two kills and 6’0” junior middle Megan Zumberger had a block and kill. From 18-8 it was only a matter of time and the end came on a block by Kelsie Zumberger. ****************************************************** Anna and Versailles are in different districts, and assuming both win next Saturday, they will collide with each other on Wednesday, November 2 at the Wilmington regional.
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