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Senior
Kelsey Gelhaus bumps the ball against Mechnicsburg Thursday. The
Tigers lost in five
hard fought sets. CNO Photo by George Starks.
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Ansonia goes the
distance but Loses at the wire
By George Starks
TIPP CITY - They are two teams that mirrored each other. For five
grueling sets, Ansonia and Mechanicsburg drug each other through the
gauntlet, each set like the first.
A fierce battle that could go either way.
In sets that went back and forth all evening, when the smoke cleared,
it was Mechanicsburg that advanced, leaving the Ansonia Lady Tigers
hanging by a thread.
After dropping the opener 25-22, Ansonia rebounded, taking the next two
sets 25-15, 25-18 and holding a 2-1 advantage.
“We had them down 2-1 and a lot of teams would have packed it in,” said
Tigers coach Jason Hemmelgarn. “Mechanicsburg came out hard in the
fourth and played real well. They took advantage of some opportunities
we gave them. We played hard and we played as a team but this is a
tough one to take.”
The fourth set saw five ties and six lead changes as Ansonia held the
lead on three different occasions, with the largest coming at 11-8.
The Indians would get the lead for good, breaking a 24-24 deadlock to
win 26-24.
With the match evened up at two sets each, the deciding set would be
exactly like the one before it with multiple lead changes.
Ansonia held an 11-10 lead late, only to fall 15-13 in the end and be
eliminated from the tournament.
“It was very tight the whole time,” Hemmelgarn stated. “Both teams had
a chance to win every game. These matches are a lot of fun to watch but
a little stressful to coach.”
Long before taking the court, Hemmelgarn knew what to expect.
I figured this could go five,” admitted the Tigers coach. “They played
Fairlawn really tough and so did we so we knew coming in we could
expect a tough match. “
With both sides being even in serve receive and assists, it was the net
play on defense that kept the Tigers in contention.
“The girls have been working really hard on their blocking,” Hemmelgarn
said. “They were ready to play tonight just like we were.”
With Ansonia holding all the momentum heading into the fourth set, the
Indians put together one rally after another, taking the momentum back.
“They are a scrappy bunch,” Hemmelgarn said. “They kept a lot of balls
alive that should have hit the floor. We were up in the fourth and
fifth and couldn’t finish. We tell the kids to play every point like
it’s the last one and tonight they did. Volleyball is a game of inches
and a few critical balls went in their favor and not ours.”
Hemmelgarn closed by saying, “it was a tough year and this was a hard
way to end it.”
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Junior
Christina Godwin couldn’t control her emotions after the Tigers were
eliminated.
CNO Photo by George Starks.
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