Lady Devils Smiling with win over Tigresses

BCR

by Kevin Hieronymus

October 17, 2009

Lady Red Devils smiling with win over Tigresses
By Kevin Hieronymus - khieronymus@bcrnews.com

PRINCETON — The Hall Lady Red Devils and Princeton Tigresses came in to Thursday’s NCIC Lincoln volleyball clash with different emotions.

Princeton was riding high after its upset win over Chillicothe IVC Tuesday, its first win in 12 matches with the Grey Ghosts, in a performance PHS coach Andy Puck couldn’t talk enough about.

Hall was at the opposite spectrum, having played a real downer at Rock Falls in a match coach Dani Zellmer didn’t even want to talk to her girls about afterwards.

The Tigresses rode that high to a 25-20 first game win over the rival Lady Devils and took a 21-18 lead in the second set, seemingly on the way to a 2-0 sweep. Not so fast. The Lady Devils rallied for a 27-25 victory and won by a landslide in the third 25-12 to take the match. Zellmer couldn’t keep from smiling this time.
“That whole game ... I couldn’t catch my breath, I was so excited,” Zellmer said. “It felt good. I think I can speak for the girls for that. We needed a little pick me up.

“I already knew that these girls could do it. I knew what this team was about. It’s great to finally see them smile again. That’s what I’m excited for.” Hall sophomore Kelle Nett said the win “felt good, especially since it was Princeton and on their court. We’ve been trying to play our best and haven’t gotten there yet.”

Puck had little to smile about in this one that got away.
“We got our butts beat,” he said. “I gave them two words before the match — play hard. And we didn’t play hard. When you give kids repetitions in practice the more they do they don’t think, and things become second nature. Well, when you don’t play hard, you hesitate and start thinking. And Hall made us do that.
“I tell the girls, I have no problem losing if you leave it all on the floor. You can sleep well at night. Against Mendota and IVC we took two huge steps forward, but we took one back tonight.”

Hall led throughout the first set at 10-4, 12-8 and 15-10 and again at 20-18 after the Tigresses tied the game at 16. Princeton rallied for the final seven points, winning the game 25-20 when Jolyn Kane hit through the Hall block.
The Lady Devils gained control again in the second set, scoring five straight to go up 12-10 on an ace by Brigitte Klein. Hall held a 15-12 lead on a push by Kelle Nett and 18-16 on a smash by Katelyn Raineri.
A four-point string by Katelyn Peterson, including hits by Jolyn Kane and Lacey Jensen, gave the Tigresses a 21-18 lead. Zellmer admitted things didn’t look good, but told her girls to not give up, and they never did.
Raineri stopped the PHS string with a hit at 21-19. PHS sided out, but a Klein hit got the ball back in Hall’s court. A hit by Nett tied the game at 22 and two PHS errors gave Hall lead a 24-22 lead. PHS was able to stay alive by tying the game at 24 on an ace by Jolyn Kane. Mickey Victor (Hall) and Sarah Maynard (PHS) traded sideouts to keep the score knotted at 25. Nett, who led Hall with nine blocks and nine kills, sided out once more for Hall and delivered a game-ending shot off a block for the 27-25 win.

“(Nett) was a definite leader out there tonight. Every time she went up, she went full force and full swing,” Zellmer said.
“Second game was all we had left and we said we had to do the best we could and get to the third game,” Nett said.
Puck said it was all about Hall just not going away and the Tigresses not playing well.
Hall didn’t toy with PHS in the third game, scoring eight unanswered points on Raineri’s service to take a 17-7 lead. The Lady Devils scored six straight to go up 23-8, leaving Puck scrambling to use reserve players to provide a spark.
PHS was penalized for having a wrong formation to put Hall up 24-9. A final kill by Klein ended the night at 25-12.
Zellmer credits her team’s “phenomenal” blocking game, which accounted for much of their success, for turning the match around.

“When they get together it’s very hard to beat them. We have some young blockers up there and they’re getting better and better. They’re finally seeing the ball, where it’s at, and getting it,” she said.
Strangely, the loss was the third of the season at home for PHS (23-4-1, 5-3), a puzzling fact for Puck who has had teams having only two losses over a three-year period.

“We got 22 wins, we have four losses and three of our losses are at home. As much as you try to figure that out, you can’t do it,” he said. “Our kids just do not stay focused. Even in timeouts, I talk to these girls and they’re more worried about what’s going on (around them). It’s just not working.”

Notes: Victor led Hall with 10 kills and Katelyn Raineri added eight kills and 12 points, including three aces. Christina Richardson had eight points and seven digs. For PHS, Maynard had 11 kills and Jensen added eight. ... PHS swept the underclass matches, winning 25-10, 25-14 at the sophomore level and 25-15, 25-10 in the freshmen match. Hall plays in the Mendota Invite Saturday while PHS travels to Plano. PHS will have its Senior Night on Tuesday vs. Kewanee.