By MARC TOBIAS
mtobias@dailystandard.com
ROCKFORD — After taking a see-saw affair 17-15 in the
first game, the Flyers gained all the momentum they needed,
as they cruised in the second game 15-3 to knock off Parkway
in Midwest Athletic Conference volleyball action.
The Panthers played well in the first, and had a set point at
15-14, but couldn’t hold on as the Flyers rallied for
three straight points.
Marion Local’s Kelly Pleiman had a kill for a sideout,
to give Katie Fleck the serve.
Jenny Hartings had a kill to make it 15-15, then Pleiman hit
her second kill in three points to give the Flyers set point.
Parkway hit a ball in the net on the next Flyer service, and
the Flyers escaped for a game one win.
“That was the longest game, I give Parkway a ton of credit,
because we were probably on 14 for one and a half full rotations,”
said Marion Local coach Amy Kucharski. “I told the girls
in the timeout at 15-14 you have to relax, you cannot panic
even though we lost the lead. You have to stay focused and we
can do this, and the girls came back, but Parkway played outstanding
defense all night.”
Parkway was the aggressor early on in the first game, as it
took an 8-4 lead.
Marion Local scored seven straight points off Jennifer Rose’s
server though to pull ahead 11-8.
Jenna Barhorst had two kills and a block during the Flyers seven-point
run while Rose hit one of her three aces during the match.
“Our team’s kind of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, we
can play at the level we need to be to beat teams, but it’s
keeping that confidence coming out for that second game,”
said Parkway coach Todd Henkle. “The first game we were
up 8-4 and let them run seven straight points. We were in control
of the match at 8-4, and Marion was making some errors. Like
we told the girls, it’s just a matter of confidence and
maintaining our composure and coming out and keep playing hard
even after a first game loss. In the MAC anybody is gettable,
it’s just whoever is going to have that intensity is going
to win, and I think Marion was a little more intense that second
match.”
Kelsey Schaefer had a pair of aces during a a four-point run
that put the Flyers ahead 9-2 in the second game. Schaefer also
registered nine kills.
“I thought we really served tough that second game,”
Kucharski said. “I think winning that first game for us
actually gave us some confidence going into the second game.
We started playing more aggressive and serving more aggressive.
I thought we served real well, especially Kelsey Schaefer’s
jump serve and Jennifer Rose had good serves too.”
Barhorst had six kills and four blocks for the Flyers while
Pleiman and Hartings picked up four kills.
Emily Snyder and Amanda Jutte combined for seven kills and five
blocks, but Parkway had too many errors to mount a comeback
in the second game.
“That’s 90 percent of the game, physically, we know
we can get the job done, but mentally do we think we’re
going to make mistakes? Yeah. Should they? No, they’ve
been playing ball forever but that mental block is a big one
for us to get over right now,” Henkle said.
The win moves the Flyers record to 6-2 (2-1 MAC) while Parkway
drops to 2-6 (0-3 MAC).
Marion Local returns to action Saturday at the Troy Invitational
while Parkway’s next match is Monday at South Adams.
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