Ankrum records 19 set assists, 8 kills; Kirk, Freeburg combine for 38 digs
Panther volleyball players tossed out candy to the fans as they were introduced before last Thursday’s season-opener against Red Rock Central. After that, they treated the Falcons to a 3-1 defeat.
It wasn’t always pretty, as the Panthers struggled from the service line and were victims of a number of unforced errors, but TMB seemed to have gotten stronger as the match wore on and ultimately outshined the Falcons, winning 25-22, 19-25, 25-23, 25-13.
“I think the girls came into the gym with some big expectations of what their game was going to look like individually and as a team; I think nerves were part of some of the girls’ struggles,” TMB coach Heather Kamrud-Rice said. “When it doesn’t play out like you envision it, it’s easy to lose your way, and you could see that a few times, they weren’t playing like themselves — it wasn’t how we’ve been looking the last few practices — 1 and 0, a ‘W’ is a ‘W.’” TMB (1-0) started strong, opening the match with a 10-5 lead. The lead grew to 22-15 on an ace block by Braelynn Kirk. RRC was able to mount a rally and pulled to within two at set point, and another Kirk block sealed the win.
Undeterred by the Set 1 loss, the Falcons came out firing in the second set, leading 1410 midway through the set. RRC’s lead grew to 21-15, and TMB was unable to get any closer than four points the rest of the way.
“The team on the other side of the net looked good tonight,” Kamrud-Rice said. “When they got the second set, that gave them the fire to really come after us. I think when you give the other team some confidence — that really fired them up to come after us. I think we just lost a lot of consistency; there were a lot of unforced errors — especially that second set, there were a lot of unforced errors, a lot of misserves, balls being hit out of bounds.”
Set 3 started out tight at 11-11, and RRC was able to seize momentum and garner an 18-12 advantage. That’s when TMB started taking over at the net, and two kills by Allie Adams and one from lefty Melaina Ankrum helped the Panthers tie it at 19. TMB found itself down 22-21 later, but two more kills by Ankrum gave TMB a 23-22 lead. An RRC net violation and an ace tip by Kirk pushed the Panthers to the win.
It was all TMB in the final set, as the Panthers built a 20-9 lead. A couple of RRC miscues and a kill by Ary Rolling pushed the Falcons to the brink, and the set and match ended on an RRC hitting error.
Kamrud-Rice said in the first match of the season, she was looking for smart decisions by her players, showing they know when to be aggressive and when to play smart, as well as consistency from the service line, which TMB lacked throughout the match.
“Our serves tonight, that was an issue,” she said. “One of our goals was to serve 92%, and we didn’t get near that. It was a little rocky. In our scrimmages, we worked on certain plays and how to arrange our defense around our block, and when the game gets going, we forget where we’re supposed to be. We need to follow through with what we’re practicing.”
Braelynn Kirk had 22 digs, and Piper Freeburg had 16. Adams and Ankrum both recorded eight kills, Kirk had seven and Ary Rolling five. Ankrum also had 19 set assists, and Aliyah Loftess had 11.
