SUB-SECTION VOLLEYBALL: TMB 3, EDGERTON 2
Edgerton pushes Panthers to 5 sets, but home team prevails to advance in Section 3A
If the Panther volleyball team proved anything Monday night, it was that there’s no “I” in TMB.
Playing opposite arguably the best hitter they’ve had to deal with all season, the Panthers outlasted Edgerton in five sets — 25-22, 24-26, 25-22, 15-25, 15-12 in a Sub-Section 3A play-in game.
“It’s just about being a team,” said TMB hitter Braelynn Kirk, who had 18 digs, four kills, three assists and two ace serves in the win. “It’s being a team, relying on people, and when someone’s down, you help them up and just stay together.”
The win advances the seventh-seeded Panthers (1119) to the second round of the Section 3A Tournament where they will play at No. 2 WWG (19-9) at 7 p.m. on Friday. The winner will take on either Adrian/Ellsworth or Hills-Beaver Creek in the section quarterfinals on Oct. 28 in Worthington.
Things didn’t start well for home team Monday, as Edgerton opened with a 5-0 run, seemingly catching the Panthers off guard.
“Adrenaline really just got us,” Kirk said of the Panthers’ sluggish start. “I think it was nerves — trying to get them out of the way. I think all the girls were like, ‘Oh, its 5-0, what are we gonna do?’ But us working together as a team … we just came together.”
The Panthers eventually tied it up at 15 on a service ace by Piper Freeburg, and the momentum built from there. Three Edgerton errors pushed the Panthers’ lead to 18-15, and TMB broke a 22-22 tie with an ace by Melaina Ankrum after an Edgerton service error.
Kirk later closed it out with a kill.
“All season long, you get into a routine … I think (the match) was just on us faster than the girls thought it was going to be,” TMB coach Heather Kamrud-Rice said. “Sometimes we are so ready with our hearts and our energy that we forget that we really need to be locked in to use that heart and that energy. It took us a minute to realize, ‘Yah, we really do have to move better on defense and talk more.’” “It’s definitely a learning lesson, where you can’t just overlook someone,” Kirk said. “You have to go in all or nothing. You just gotta give it your all.”
Set 2 was close form the start, but as the match went on, Edgerton senior hitter Reese Vande Griend got stronger and began to take things over. The 11th of her 31 kills tied the set at 18, and the back-and-forth set ended when she blasted her next kill for the two-point win.
The Flying Dutchmen brought it early in the third set, and a 9-1 run fueled by four Vande Griend kills gave Edgerton an 18-10 cushion. However, after Vande Griend shifted to the back row, TMB got back in it with an 8-1 spurt for a 22-21 advantage. Two late Kirk kills gave the Panthers the set win and a 2-1 lead.
But the Flying Dutchmen weren’t done. They started the fourth set just like the first, opening a 7-0 lead, en route to a 25-15 win to force the deciding fifth set. It marked just the second time this year TMB would play a five-set match, and it started well, as TMB scored six of the first nine points.
BRAELYNN KIRK records a kill over two Edgerton defenders.
THIS IS ONE OF MELAINA ANKRUM’S seven kills against Edgerton.
ALLIE ADAMS reaches high for a kill attempt against Edgerton.
The Panthers were able to better neutralize Vande Griend in the final set by making some defensive adjustments. They didn’t totally shut her down, but came close behind strong net play from the likes of Gretchen Lanoue, Elsie Knott and Ankrum. Lanoue finished with a team-high four blocks.
“We pushed up our rotation a little bit to get some of our more consistent blockers against her,” Kamrud-Rice said. “When she was on, that was some of the best hitting I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen someone hit the 10-foot line like that that many times in a match this season.”
A kill by Knott put TMB ahead 12-9, and the Panthers led 14-12 after another Ankrum kill. The set and match ended on an Edgerton service error.
The win was the first at home for the Panthers since their season-opener on Aug. 21, and before Monday, they had only won five sets in their own gym. TMB has now won three straight matches — its longest winning streak of the season — but will take a step up in competition Friday against the Chargers, who have also won three in a row.
“We’ll look at some film of them; this late in the season, it’s time to start really making some changes,” Kamrud-Rice said. “I think we’re going to work on some consistency. I know we were aggressive tonight on offense, but we were inconsistent.”
Ankrum led the Panthers at the net with 12 kills an also had three aces, and Allie Adams had seven kills and 11 digs. Freeburg had 25 digs.
Edgerton 22 26 22 15 12 TMB 25 24 25 15 15 Kills: Ankrum 12, Adams 7, Kirk 4, Lanoue 3, Knott 2, Martinez 2. Assists:
GRETCHEN LANOUE was one of TMB’s blockers who helped neutralize Edgerton senior hitter Reese Vande Griend in the final set of last week’s postseason win.
tournament win. Photos / Per Peterson Dolan 10, Ankrum 9, Kirk 3, Freeburg 2, Hoffman 2, Martinez, Lanoue. Aces: Martinez 3, Andkrum 3, Kirk 2, Dolan, Freeburg. Digs: Freeburg 25, Kirk 18, Hoffman 12, Adams 11, Ankrum 7, Martinez 6, Dolan 4, Lanoue 3, Knott 2. Blocks: Lanoue 4, Knott 2, Ankrum 2, Adams, Martinez. ELSIE KNOTT knocks down a kill from the right side during Monday’s
