Lady Thunderbirds top North Central in five

The Eastern Greene High School volleyball team defeated host North Central 25-20, 25-20, 23-25, 20-25, 15-13 Thursday night.

"What an exciting night of volleyball for us," said Eastern Greene coach Gina Ingram, whose Lady Thunderbirds picked up its eighth victory of the season.

"We started tonight solid, passed well, played good defense and worked as a team. What more could you ask and then finish the night with a big win. North Central has two very solid sophomores, Megan Stone and Bree Higginbottom, that swing aggressively and hard. Those two hitters are looking to put every shot away and we were ready."

Ingram said they got solid leads in games one and two, but North Central clawed their way back to make both games close towards the finish.

"In game one, Alyssa Hauser served very well from point 11 to 18 to give us a good lead," said Ingram. "In game two, Hauser continued to serve well and senior teammate Caitlyn Frye joined her by stringing together our first seven points and then add three more later in the game.

"Our passing in these two games was on, which lead to us being more productive at the net offensively."

Ingram said that North Central came out strong in game three and they were a little flat emotionally.

"We made a couple of mistakes that NC jumped on and we had to fight our way back into the game," said Ingram. "We were very competitive and had many scrappy plays by both teams in this game."

Ingram said they lost the use of Jenna Crowe (plays JV too) due to game limit and had to work around what we prefer to do in our games.

"We made two service errors in the fourth game and NC capitalized on our shaky game. Our feet were a little flat," said Ingram. "I really felt that we were so pumped after winning the first two games, that game three was an emotional let down that was difficult for us to recover and move on quickly.

"Game four really illustrated our "let down phase". It was still a tight game with many long rallies and hard plays, but we couldn't get back within striking distance and lost 20-25."

Ingram said doesn't like going five games, like most coaches, but was very happy to take the win.

"Game five was incredible," she said. "We won the toss and elected to serve. Hauser served the first three points and then due to NC putting a kill away with authority, we were then on the receive side of the game.

"We struggled here. I really think we were afraid to make a mistake and that we wanted it real bad. That lead to us being very keyed up and we made some very elementary mistakes. As with game four, we flipped a couple of roles around and utilized players in a little different rotation. It is hard to do that, but we know that is what happens when we go five in a match."

Ingram said they ran a 5-1 offense and Nikki Butler stepped in as our second set of hands and played all the way around.

"Nikki usually plays front row for senior Joni Crowe." she said. "Nikki handled this switch with confidence.

"Another change came when sophomore Samantha Reed was called on to play back row. Sam did her job. Sam is our middle hitter, we do not use her in the back row or as a server. She was 3-for-3 serving with one ace and she passed well. Sam always says she can play back row and she did exactly that when the game was on the line. We fought back after being down in game five to win 15-13."

Reed had an incredible match with 11 kills and two solo blocks, Ingram said.

"The play that our girls brought out tonight was great." she said. "Sam also had numerous block touches that enabled our defense to recover hard swings. That definitely made a difference. She was very aggressive and efficient tonight. This was probably Sam's best performance this year, she was definitely in the game and enjoying the night.

"Joni Crowe made some great plays too. Joni chased down a ball in game five that really showed us what she is made of, what a determined young lady she is. Joni ran her floor with confidence and her a sophomore team mate Rikki McCann had a solid performance. They really worked well together tonight. They really complemented each other well tonight."

Sophomore Whitney Richardson and Frye saw a lot of action defensively, Ingram said.

"With Stone and Higginbottom swinging so aggressively, our defense was really challenged. Both girls handled the hard swings soundly and passed the ball in system for our offense to work more efficiently," said Ingram. "Caitlyn is a solid leader on the floor and she leads by example. It is great to see Whitney following that lead set by Caitlyn. They did a fantastic job tonight. Both girls logged 11 digs each.

"Alyssa Hauser and Whitney both passed well too. Frye, Richardson and Hauser passed well on serve receive too. Their feet were moving and they made adjustments that work well for our team."

Butler did a solid job tonight, Ingram said.

"Nikki has many roles that she plays and she is always ready for the role that I throw her into and works to do her best," said Ingram. "Tonight, she passed, set, played defense and served; usually she hits front row.

"Nikki works hard and has a great attitude that comes into play with the crazy positions we put her in. She is a tough kid."

The coach also said that Lydia Anderson and Jenna Crowe also did their job.

"Jenna played solid defense and served well for us in the first three games," said Ingram. "It is tough to be in a match for three games and then to be told, "thanks, but you are done for the night. Jenna works hard and is very vocal for us on the floor and we need that. She has been working very hard at becoming a solid defensive player for our varsity. She is our JV setter.

"Lydia came in for Sam in game four and tallied four points and two aces and three digs. Lydia plays JV and varsity and she was ready to work and in game four was tossed into the fire as a Libero defensive player with NC's hard hitter swinging away at her. She handled it very well. It is fantastic when you call on the kids ready on the bench and they come in and do their jobs, it just shows they are ready and determined to do their best."

Ingram added that freshman Brittany Igel also was ready and did her job when ask to contribute on the varsity.

"It was a solid team effort that was exciting and we coaches were worn out after the match," said Ingram. "The kids played great and dug in during game five, they wanted it and they came away with it.

Eastern Greene Varsity Stats

Vs. North Central

Samantha Reed: 11 kills, 2 blocks, 3 of 3 serving, 1 ace.

Alyssa Hauser: 4 kills, 4 digs 18 points, 25 of 25 serving.

Caitlyn Frye: 11 digs, 6 kills, 11 points, 20 of 21 serving.

Rikki McCann: 18 assists, 3 kills, 1 dig, 7 points, 16 of 16.

Joni Crowe: 15 assists, 2 digs, 9 of 9 serving, 2 points.

Whitney Richardson: 10 kills, 11 digs, 11 of 13 serving, 5 points.

Nikki Butler: 3 kills, 2 digs, 3 of 3 serving, 1 point.

Jenna Crowe: 3 digs, 9 of 9 serving, 2 points.

Lydia Anderson: 3 digs, 4 of 6 serving, 4 points.