|
|
Tri-Village
senior Sara Bowman get one of her 16 kills Monday against
Franklin Monroe.
The Patriots won the match, going four tough games
with the Jets.
|
|
Patriots
survive big scare from Franklin Monroe
TV scores non-conference victory
By George Starks
NEW MADISON - If it’s been said once, it’s been said a thousand times.
“It’s tough to beat the same team three times in a season.”
For the third time this season, Franklin Monroe and Tri-Village squared
off on the volleyball court.
The first time, in August, the Patriots beat the Jets in the county
tournament in Bradford.
The second time was just a week ago at Franklin Monroe. It was a night
the Pats would win in three but Patriots coach Jackie Barnes would
leave not pleased with the way her girls played. That match was a Cross
County Conference duel.
Since that night in The Hangar, the Jets were able to top Newton in
three and scored a huge upset over Mississinawa Valley last Thursday at
The Hawks Nest, beating the Blackhawks in five games.
Monday the two teams would once again come face to face but this time,
it would take an extra game to determine a winner. In the end, the
Patriots would gain a 3-1 non-conference victory, 25-20, 16-25, 25-19,
25-19.
After winning the opener 25-19, the Patriots fell in the second game,
losing 25-16.
“It just seemed in that second game that Franklin Monroe did everything
right and we did everything wrong,” said Barnes. “We knew this was
going to be tough. We’ve played them twice already and it’s been
competitive every time. But I’m glad we were able to play really well
in the third game and bounce back.”
After taking the third game 25-19, the Jets were not going to go away
easy.
In what could be described as ‘in your face volleyball’, it was obvious
right from the opening two points, the Jets were going to do everything
in their power to get a second straight upset.
In a game that featured 11 ties and four lead changes, the Jets finally
succumbed as the Patriots finally built a 21-17 lead and held it to
take a match win at 25-19.
“I was really pleased in the third game with the way we played after
losing the third game,” said Barnes. “We did not look good nor did we
play well in the second game. In the fourth game, we had to dig deep
and fight. No one was scoring points and getting an advantage either
way. It was back and forth the whole time. I was pleased that we dug
deep and scored a couple of points when we needed to.”
With the Jets suffering a hard fought loss, FM coach Jody Bauman saw
the one thing her team would need.
“We played with the intensity after the first game,” said Bauman. “In
the second game, the girls realized that it would take the kind of
intensity we played with against Newton and Mississinawa Valley.”
Game four was a roller coaster ride for Bauman.
“I was really hoping it wouldn’t be that close,” said Bauman. “I wanted
us to get a lead of a few points and we couldn’t get there. My girls
came in here ready to play and in each practice we grow. We are young
and anything we build on is good for us. We had a few mental errors but
Tri-Village played tough.”
When it come to the net play for the Jets, Freshman Morgan Booher and
Alexis Hartzell both proved to be thorns in the Patriots side.
“In games like this, we look to those two to finish each point and
tonight, they were doing that,” Bauman stated.
Tri-Village will see action Thursday as the Jets will be home to
Bradford while the Patriots will host Tri-County North. Both matches
will be CCC contests.
|
|
Franklin
Monroe senior Elissa Nealeigh returns a serve for the Jets Monday at
The Battlefield.
Junior
Alexis Hartzell looks to gain a kill for Franklin Monroe as Sara Bowman
attempts to block the effort.
Patriot
junior Heather Ferris battles hard at the net for Tri-Village.
Ferris ended the four game
match with 13 kills, 25 digs and nine points
scored.
|
|
|
|
