Thursday, October 31, 2013
Photo
South Range’s Lexi Desantis hits the ball over the net as Triway’s Macie Wengerd (18) and Courtnay Cruise (24) defender during a Division III regional semifinal volleyball match Wednesday at Barberton High School. The Raiders fell 3-1.
By BRANDON JUDEH
BARBERTON
It was a familiar scene for the South Range volleyball team as it made a second consecutive trip to the Division III regional semifinals.
Unfortunately it was the same result as Wooster Triway defeated the Raiders, 3-1, to move on to a regional final.
With the match tied at one game apiece, the Raiders looked to continue to hold the momentum after winning the second game.
But it wasn’t to be.
A 16-0 run by the Titans (25-2) set up a 25-14 victory and seemed to suck the life out of the Raiders (23-3).
“I think that we maybe panicked a little bit and got nervous,” said South Range head coach Rachell Storm-Baker. “We stopped remembering that no matter what we do, it’s only one point at a time, but Triway is a strong team they did a great job.”
South Range looked good early in the third game, grabbing a 6-3 advantage, but that’s when things fell apart for the Raiders.
“I think we definitely panicked after their big run and I didn’t expect that we would do that,” said Stevie Taylor. “It’s a really tough loss. I don’t think we adapted as well as we usually do.”
Despite the lopsided margin, the Raiders held strong in the final game, but in the end the Titans pulled away for a 25-14 match-clincing victory.
“I’m proud of all the girls and our entire team with all that we have accomplished since our freshman year, including winning two straight district titles,” Taylor said.
The Raiders got off to a hot start during an exciting back-and-forth first game as the teams battled to gain an early advantage.
With the Raiders clinging to a 23-20 lead the Titans called a timeout and then proceeded to make a 5-0 run to steal the game from the Raiders.
The loss loomed large for South Range.
“That match obviously didn’t help us, however I don’t think it hurt us either, because that has happened to us several times this year, but this time we weren’t able to come from behind,” Storm-Baker said.
Said Taylor: “That was a tough way to lose the set, that put some pressure on us, but we definitely were able to pick it up in the second match. I thought we would be able to roll from there on, but we just weren’t able to.”
In true South Range fashion the Raiders bounced back in the second game, tying the match with a 25-20 victory.
Taylor led South Range with nine kills, 12 digs and nine points in her final match.
Lynne Ritter had 10 kills and six blocks and Madison Juillerat contributed 41 assists and eight points.
Storm-Baker says she will always remember this team as a hard-working bunch that would never quit.
“They are all really great friends that always get along,” she said. “They all work very hard and we had a great season. It just didn’t end how we wanted it to.”