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Arcanum's
Michaela McGaffic puts one down against MV senior Heather
Dirksen (12) as the Trojans
won the Cross County Conference battle,
3-0. CNO photos by Dale Barger
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Arcanum takes
care of Hawks in three
MV seniors sent out on a down note
By George Starks
UNION CITY- Solid net play and a bend but don’t break attitude helped
propel Arcanum over Mississinawa Valley in the straight Tuesday in
Cross county Conference play.
Rolling to a convincing 25-11 win in the opener, the Lady Trojans found
the going a little rougher before posting duplicate wins of 25-21 for a
3-0 match win.
After playing the Hawks on September 22 in a match that went the
distance, the Trojans faced the Hawks again after coming off a grueling
five set match Monday with Franklin Monroe.
“The past two nights, we’ve played good teams but we never quit,” said
Arcanum coach Terri Day. “It’s nice to end the season with big wins
right before the start of the tournament.”
After posting the lopsided win, the Trojans wanted to end things in a
quick and easy fashion.
Holding a 1-0 lead in the match, the Trojans took the early lead in the
second set, holding three point leads on three different occasions but
could never get rid of the pesky Hawks on senior night.
The Hawks were able to scratch and claw and with things knotted at 7-7,
Mississinawa Valley put up its first legitimate lead of the night.
With Kelsey Hunt serving. The Hawk sophomore recorded three straight
points, including an ace, before the Trojans could break serve, only to
trail 10-8.
Arcanum was able to gain several ties after that but took the lead for
good, 15-14, and built a slim 19-15 advantage before holding on for the
second set victory.
With Arcanum owning the play at the net, stopping Madison Livingston
and MacKenzie Dirmeyer, Hawks coach Billie Hunt changed things up on
the front row in the second set.
Instead of trying to pound the ball against Rebecca Deao and Michaela
McGaffic, the Hawks went to the dink, catching the Trojans off-guard.
“We were solid at the net and had taken their hitters out of the game,”
said Day. “When we did that, they went to the dink and they caught us.”
The third set seen the Hawks jump out to the early lead, going up by as
much as 12-7 before relinquishing the lead 16-15 and eventually
falling, 25-21.
“This is heartbreaking,” said Hunt after the game. “The girls played
well and it was the last night for my seniors. I think it was an
emotional night for my five seniors and the nervers were showing in the
first game of the night. We were totally out of sync in the first game
tonight and we just never seemed to come together. We were moving but
not talking to each other. It’s hard to win if you don’t communicate.”
With the win, the Trojans finish the season with a 14-8 mark (9-3 CCC)
and will meet Notheastern. Arcanum has won eight of its last nine
matches and rides a modest two game winning streak into the Tournament
on Monday in Brookville starting a 6 p.m..
Notheastern was 5-15 at the time of the draw.
Mississinawa Valley, 10-11, (5-6), had one match left to play at Twin
Valley South on Wednesday.
Mississinawa Valley and TV South will battle each other Saturday at
Troy starting a 4 pm.
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Mississinawa
Valley sophomore Kelsie Hunt dinks one over the outstretched arms of
McGaffic.
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