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Howland roars from way behind to sweep
By Eric Blum
Niles
If putting together several streaks of unchallenged volleyball wasn’t the game plan for the Howland girls on Wednesday night, no one would have been able to tell.
The Tigers notched 17 of the last 18 points against Niles to secure their fourth win of the season, winning all three games.
The ending rally for the Tigers was their fifth streak of six-or-more unanswered points in the match.
However, it wasn’t smooth sailing during the entire game for the Tigers.
After the Tigers won the first two sets both by the score of 25-8, the Red Dragons mounted a comeback, leading by as many as nine in the third set.
Then Howland head coach Amanda Lingenfelter called a timeout down 17-8.
“Up until that point, I refused to take a timeout because I tried to let them try and coach themselves on the court and bring themselves out of a rut,” Lingenfelter said. “Every coach wants to see an immediate turnaround when they’re coaching their kids, so I was happy with them responding to what we were trying to get them to do.”
Around 15 minutes later, the home crowd at Veterans Gymnasium was silenced by the Tigers’ resilience as the two teams met at center court to shake hands after the hour-long match.
“We started really slow tonight. I liked what we did the third game, but I didn’t expect to beat a really good team,” Red Dragons coach Ron Slipkasky said. “We struggled [receiving their serve], and that’s where they got us tonight.”
The Red Dragons’ slow start played a big factor in losing the first set of the match. They did not score a point until after Slipkasky took two timeouts and the team gave up nine points.
The Tigers also closed the first set strong, taking 11 of the last 12 points.
“We talked really well, moved our feet and were so motivated not to let the ball touch the ground,” Howland senior Lexi Miner said. “We are pretty pumped up team and can always pull together at the end.”
Niles also couldn’t recover from a lackluster beginning to the second set, in which Howland scored 10 of 11 points in a stretch.
By the third set, the Red Dragons’ hopes of a three-set comeback looked bleak. But Slipkasky was encouraged by the fight his side showed despite having just three players with varsity court time.
“They just need to get experience and then we will get better,” Slipkasky said. “We’re still a very young team.”
Howland rebounded with the straight-set win after falling to Austintown Fitch the night before. The Tigers (4-2, 1-1 All-American Conference) look for their fifth win of the season tonight against Boardman.
“We have progressively been getting better,” Lingenfelter said. “I had no doubts we were going to come back in that last game.”
Lingenfelter said this match showed the Tigers’ character and what they are capable of doing. She said any teams that face Howland are going to have to earn a win.
“We stayed together and didn’t make many errors,” Miner said in regard to the Tigers’ play at the end of the third set. “We pulled together and didn’t get down. We stayed positive.”