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Jenna Pew blocks Smithville over Northwestern in clash of ranked Wayne County Athletic League powers September 10, 2008 By Jim Jicha Fourth ranked Smithville toppled second rated West Salem Northwestern last night 25-20, 25-18, 20-25, 25-21 to take sole possession of first place in the Wayne County Athletic League. With the win over the Huskies coming at home, the Smithies thereby avenged another of last season’s five losses. The Smithies split with Northwestern last season, losing at home. They beat Creston Norwayne last Tuesday, and Kidron Central Christian before that, to atone for two other losses. Last night’s win was due in large part to the efforts of junior middle hitter Jenna Pew who scored nine points on blocks, while amassing 21 kills on a nice mix of spikes and tips, and serving two aces. Eight of Pew’s blocks came against new all-time state career kill record holder Kara Koch. On August 26, Koch’s fifth kill against Dalton broke former Defiance High School standout and now Ball State University junior Rachelle Hagerty’s mark of 1637. By the time the match was over the senior outside hitting Cleveland State recruit was up to 1663. Koch is usually unstoppable and, according to a rival coach, she was especially so at the Norwalk Invitational, where the Huskies beat Division I power Amherst Steele 25-19, 25-22 and went on to take the crown. Pew didn’t really stop Koch, but she contained her like no one else has this year. Asked about her performance, Pew reflected and said “Well, it was just an unbelievable game. We came out hard, we were aggressive, we were blocking”. The Smithies’ mindset, she noted, was that Koch would get her kills and they needed to minimize the damage. She concluded with “My blocking was just dead on tonight”. The emotional win left Smithville Coach Heidi Hartzler speechless. Well, not really. She did say “I’m so excited I can’t talk”, but after also admitting to having “goose bumps”, she bubbled over with praise for Pew and the rest of her team. “Our goal was to contain Kara”, Hartzler said about Smithville’s approach to the match, adding “Jenna did her job, she was awesome”. She also credited the overall strength of her team, with hitters who can take pressure off Pew, and a strong defense, as contributing to the victory, pointing out “we have all these weapons”. One of those weapons was libero Leah Martin, who was all over the floor digging and passing whatever got through the block. With Smithville up 18-17 in game two, Martin dove twice to save spikes by Northwestern outside hitter Kristen Warner, and her effort paid off when the Huskies obliged with a hitting miscue. Nobody gets any credit stat-wise for a point like that, which is officially recorded as an error by the opponent. But the play ended in a two point lead instead of a tie. And when Smithie sophomore Jessi Hartzler served up an ace, Martin’s saves became the spark that ignited a six point run to 24-17. Asked about that volley afterward, Martin said with matter-of-fact confidence, “I gotta keep the ball in play. That’s my job”. Martin also had a big role in game four, when she served up an ace and six more points as Smithville rallied ahead from a 10-17 deficit. Her comment about that was “We were losing, and I had to get it over and in”. That’s easy to say, but actually doing it is another thing. Martin did it all night with 16-16 serving. Foreshadowing what was to come, Pew began the match with a kill, and after Koch responded in kind, Pew blocked her for a 2-1 Smithie lead. However, Northwestern went up 5-2 as Koch terminated a Marissa George short set and tipped an overpass, and George served an ace. Pew tipped to start a four point run with junior outside Alyssa Horst and sophomore middle Julie Pollick contributing kills, but Koch blasted a spike right at a defender and Warner hit into a hole that opened because Koch was faking a back court spike from behind. A cross-court shot by Smithville outside Bethany Indermuhle knotted things at 7-all. But Northwestern spurted in front 11-7 on kills by outside Damian Greene and Warner, and an ace by libero Kim Bowman. Smithville scored three including an ace by Martin, but Koch terminated one from back court to keep the Huskies in front 13-11. That moved Koch to front row, where she was greeted by a block from Pew. With junior Alex Leister serving, Pew scored another block and hammered an overpass that came after she had rejected three Husky spikes. Jena Hartzler dumped for a point, and a Northwestern cross-court spike sailed wide right after three saves by Martin. That gave Smithville a 17-13 lead. Koch ended the run with a termination and she and Pew traded kills, but Smithville edged further ahead to 21-16 and the teams exchanged points from there. With the score 24-19, Koch smashed a kill down the left, but Leister dug her next attempt and Pew cratered a blast in the middle to end the game. Warner scored the first point of game two, and the teams traded errors to a 4-3 Northwestern lead. After a block by Greene and a kill by Indermuhle, Koch smoked a termination and served an ace, and Warner spiked a kill to put the Huskies up 8-4. Smithville scored a pair, as did Northwestern with an ace from Kelsey Reed making it 10-6. The Smithies got two more on kills by Pollick and Pew, and after a point by Warner, they added three to tie at 11-all. Warner scored on a spike that was blocked over but out, but a net serve was followed by another Pew block, and Horst and Pew added kills. Koch pounded a point, but after her next attempt was rejected by Pew, the Huskies were caught in the net, and when a spike by Horst was dug into the ceiling Smithville was on top 17-13. But Northwestern came right back with Koch smashing three Marissa George sets into empty spots, two from an open net. Warner helped by converting a spike by Pew into a great pass. Pew, however, deftly averted a tie with a tip to her right at the line by the net, and Koch kept pace with a bomb down the right. With the score now 18-17 Smithville, Martin made her diving saves that were followed by Jessi Hartzler’s ace. Northwestern followed with three long hits, one coming after a dig by Jessi Hartzler. Warner finally broke the rally on a tip to make it 24-18, but a long serve ended the game. Smithville mishandled Warner’s opening serve of game three and Northwestern charged to a 3-0 lead. Their margin gradually increased to 14-7 as first Koch and then Warner followed every Smithville score with a kill. When the Smithies closed to 15-11, Koch blasted a knock down kill, and after another Smithville point, she scored from backcourt while Warner added a tip, blocked a dump by Hartzler and spiked a cross-court kill. That made it 21-12, and after point trading Koch demolished point 24 down the left line. Smithville scored five thanks to four errors, but Koch sent a shot to back middle that was dug out for the game winner. Coach Hartzler said afterward she felt the Smithies made a lot of errors and, unlike games one and two, they let Northwestern hit at them, and they talked in the huddle about regaining their aggressiveness. Warner scored first in game four, but Pew responded with two well placed tips and another block. Koch smashed a kill over Pew’s block, but Pew scored next and the Smithies went up 7-2 on a Jena Hartzler ace. Koch, however, blasted two more kills, tipped for a point and then blocked Pew. The teams traded points, leaving Smithville up 10-9. Warner then blocked an attempted dump by Hartzler, and following a Smithie hitting error, she scored three more kills while Greene served two aces. With Northwestern now up 17-10, game five appeared to be odds on. It was, that is, until Leister ended an intense volley with a cross-court spike; Martin served an ace; the Huskies hit into the pole and long; Pew spiked a point, blocked a Koch spike from back court, then blocked Warner; and another hit went long. Asked about this rally, Coach Hartzler responded "It's a good lineup when Leah's serving and Pew is in front row". It probably also helped that this was the one rotation where Pew was in the front while Koch was still in the back row. George finally scored to retie at 18 after two Smithville saves, but Pew hit another tip into the right front, and Horst scored on a hit into the Huskies’ back court, after Indermuhle and Leister had made diving saves to keep spikes by Koch from touching the floor. Koch parried with a tip and Northwestern tied again at 20. But Pew scored on a tip, and when Jena Hartzler followed with an ace, that brought Smithville fans to their feet. A booming block by Pew sent them into a frenzy, which became even more so when Horst delivered the penultimate point with a smash down the left. Reed gave her team one last opportunity with a nicely placed two-hander from the left into the right front. On the next volley, first Greene and then George dove to save partial blocks of spikes by Pew, but a resulting free ball scenario set Pew up for a straight down kill that ended the match. Koch ended with 28 kills for Northwestern and Warner added 21 with two blocked dump attempts. And in case you’re interested, these teams will go at it again at Northwestern on October 2.
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