Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010
Cavaliers rally for victory after loss in the first game
By Gary R. Rasberry
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Emily Kahlig, 21, reaches out to try to spike the ball past New Bremen's Meagan Brandt during their Midwest Athletic Conference matchup on Tuesday at The Palace. Coldwater won the match in four games 24-26, 25-17, 25-18, 25-15.
COLDWATER - The Cavaliers were able to rebound from losing a big lead in the first game by rallying for three straight wins to take a four-game win over New Bremen on Tuesday night Midwest Athletic Conference volleyball action at The Palace.
The win moves the Cavaliers to 7-4 on the season (2-2) while the Cardinals drop to 1-9 (0-4 MAC).
New Bremen seemed to get the momentum early, rallying back from down 18-12 in the first set thanks to a great service run by Megan Brandt, who helped the Cardinals to a 24-22 lead. The Cavaliers came back to get a sideout and Brittanie Niekamp scored a kill to tie things at 24-all. New Bremen then got the sideout and won the opener 26-24 on a net violation by Coldwater.
Coldwater, however, rebounded right away in the second set. The Cavaliers jumped out to a 6-1 lead as Jenae Muhlenkamp got a pair of aces while Courtney Wellman and Macy Reigelsperger chipped in with kills. The Cavaliers got up as much as eight points and maintained that lead with a 25-17 victory to even the match.
"That was a key for us," said Coldwater coach Mike Etzler about coming back. "In the first game, (New Bremen) was down and we made a lot of errors and Bremen did what they needed to do to put it away. It was important for us to get out to a good start. That's what we did (in) the last three (sets)."
"I told them yesterday we played a match (against Fort Loramie) and got better each game," said Cardinals coach Theresa Dwenger. "Today we played, and we were really good the first (set), then went downhill from there. I don't know if it's the age of the team or if it's they can win a game and think they can slack off. With teams like Coldwater and other teams in the MAC, I think we need to realize we can't do that. We need to stay at that level the whole time.
"Giving them 5-6 points a game is not going to allow you an opportunity to win the game."
The final two sets were carbon copies of the second set. The Cavaliers jumped out to early leads where the Cardinals could not come back. The Cavaliers picked up the intensity at the net, getting a number of hits on free balls by the Cardinals that went for kills.
That, backed with solid serving, especially with Megan Stose serving up four of her eight aces in the final two sets, allowed the Cavaliers to win the match, winning the third set 25-18 and the final set 25-15.
"We really worked on our defense," said Etzler. "If you don't have defense or ball control, you're not going to win any games. It has taken our girls awhile to understand that."
Erika Hartings and Brittanie Niekamp each had 13 kills for the Cavaliers while Niekamp also recorded three blocks.
Coldwater captured the junior varsity match in three sets.
The Cavaliers head to New Knoxville for another MAC matchup on Thursday while the Cardinals are back at home as St. Henry comes to town.
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Coldwater's Erika Hartings, 33, follows through on a spike that eludes the block of New Bremen's Julie Brown.
