UPDATED: Eastern Greene volleyball team loses at regional

Eastern Greene junior Whitney Richardson (18) can't hide her emotions after the Lady Thunderbird volleyball team lost to Tri-West Hendricks at home at the Class 2A Regional Saturday. [Order this photo]

LITTLE CINCINNATI -- The best season in the history of the Eastern Greene High School volleyball came to an end with a 22-25, 22-25, 20-25 loss to Tri-West Hendricks in the opening match at the Class 2A Eastern Greene Regional here Saturday.

Eastern Greene, who finished with a school record for wins (30-5), was competitive in each of three games, but unlike when they were in total command in winning the Bloomfield Sectional a week earlier, never found a comfort zone.

The Lady Thunderbirds, who were making their first appearance in the regional in 15 seasons, committed eight hitting errors in game one and had nine service errors in the first two games, including seven in game two.

"I saw things today that I have never seen from this team," said EGHS coach Gina Ingram. "We were only down by two (20-18) in the third game and I could tell the girls were starting to freak out.

"We were just a couple of points away from winning game three and getting back into it. You cannot lose your composure in that situation."

Ingram said that lack of experience at this level was not an ally.

"I think our girls were a little nervous," said Ingram. "And that is to be expected.

"I think experience probably helped Tri-West because they had played at the regional last year for the first time in along time and we were in the same situation this year. But you still just have to come out and play volleyball."

Eastern Greene had a brief lead -- 2-0 to start game one, but the Lady Bruins, who lost to Brownstown Central in the championship match Saturday night, carved out a 15-10 lead after Lady Thunderbird setter Rikki McCann was called for a lift.

That five-point cushion held up at 21-16, 22-17 and 24-19.

But Eastern Greene trimmed the deficit to four on a kill by Scottie Ingram, who finished with 15 kills, 11 digs, one block and was 14 of 14 serving with seven points and two aces.

"I thought Scottie played great," said Gina, her mother. "She was really aggressive and made a lot of good things happen for us."

Ingram made three straight serves. Casie Divine (10 digs, six kills, one block, 11 of 12 serving and four points) scored at the net and then a Lady Bruin miscue accounted for two points, as the deficit was sliced to 24-22.

A tip kill by Lady Bruin senior Samantha Ricks ended game one.

Game two was tied at 2, 6, 7, 13, 17, 18 and 22, but Eastern Greene never scored more than two points in a row. The seventh missed serve of the game put Tri-West ahead 23-22.

An ace served by Aubrey Cook and a hitting error by Eastern Greene gave game two to the Lady Bruins.

Cook had a match-high 22 points and four blocks. The 6-0 senior was a force that Eastern Greene never totally figured out.

"We gave them seven points with missed serves and gave them the ball seven times in game two," said Ingram. "Our unforced errors were the difference in the first two games.

"We practice all week with girls standing on boxes. We talked about splitting the seam, but we continually tried to hit over Cook and hit it long. We had eight hitting errors in game one, which also cost us."

Aces by Divine and Brittany Igel was part of a 5-1 start by EGHS in game three. But it became another cat fight, tied at 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15, 16, 17 and 18 as the Lady Thunderbirds made all 21 service attempts in the final game.

"We jumped out quickly in game three," said Ingram. "We really hustled and was focused on what we needed to do."

Ingram served an ace for an 18-17 lead, but a violation on the hosts left the game deadlocked again.

A hitting error by EG and a kill by Tri-West frosh Taylor Green forced Ingram to call timeout trailing 20-18.

"Tri-West is a good volleyball team," said Ingram. "Even though you have to focus on Cook, who is a good player, their other hitters are very consistent."

A missed serve by Tri-West, who was 66 of 69 serving compared to 57 of 66 for EGHS, gave the Lady T-Birds a chance but another error put the Lady Bruins on serve, ahead 21-19.

Green's block fell for a point and then back-to-back aces by Ricks pushed Tri-West ahead 24-19.

Igel took a pass from McCann and pounded down a kill, keep Eastern Greene's fading hopes alive.

McCann's serve was in, but a hit by the Lady Bruins could fell in safely, propelling Tri-West in the title match.

"We lost the first two games 22-25 and gave away so many points," said Ingram. "I guess that experience pays off sometimes.

"Volleyball is a game of momentum and we just never seemed to be able to keep it on our side for very long. At times, we found some holes, but we just came up short."

Although this Lady T-Bird squad failed to match the 1994 team that advanced to the regional final before being eliminated, Ingram said it was a great season.

"The Bedford match was the only time this year that I was disappointed in them," said Ingram, whose entire varsity roster will be returning next season.. "That really says something when you play 35 matches.

"What a season it was. I am so proud and honored to have coached this team. This is going to hurt for a while, but I know these kids will come back and work even harder next year."

Class 2A

Eastern Greene

Volleyball Regional

Semifinal

Saturday

Eastern Greene Statistics

Casie Divine -- 11 of 12 serving, four points, one block, 10 digs, six kills.

Brittany Igel -- 10 of 13 serving, five points, two aces, six kills, two digs.

Leanna Bailey -- 8 of 11 serving, three points, one ace, four digs.

Scottie Ingram -- 14 of 14 serving, seven points, two aces, 15 kills, 11 digs, one block.

Whitney Richardson -- 9 of 9 serving, three points, nine digs, five kills, one block.

Rikki McCann -- 5 of 7 serving, one point, 35 assists, four digs.

Chelsey Bailey -- four digs.

Samantha Reed -- three kills, one block.

Tri-West Hendricks Statistics

Aubrey Cook -- 22 kills, four blocks, 3 of 4 serving, two points, one ace.

Alexa Dorrell -- 7 of 7 serving, two points.

Taylor Green -- six kills, one block.

Megan McDonald -- three kills, one block.

Samantha Ricks -- 12 of 12 serving, five points, two aces, 30 assists.

Katie Groover -- 18 of 18 serving, 10 points, two kills.

Rachel Allen -- 9 of 10 serving, four points, four kills.

Kayla Hagemier -- 12 of 12 serving, four points.

Kate Buckner -- 9 of 10 serving, three points.