Volleyball: Paton-Churdan falls short in four sets to Glidden-Ralston
By BRANDON HURLEY
Sports Editor
Churdan –
The Paton-Churdan volleyball team struggled to outlast Glidden-Ralston on the road after relinquishing a one set lead Tuesday, Sept. 13.
The Rockets dropped three straight sets despite a 26-24 victory in the opening frame for a 3-1 Rolling Valley Conference loss in Glidden.
Paton-Churdan’s failure to contain all-conference hitter, Julia Fleecs, who crushed the Rockets to the tune of 12 kills and three blocks, played a key role in the momentum-shifting middle sets and leaves the Rockets winless in conference play.
The Rockets started Tuesday’s match on fire, jumping out to a 17-11 lead and securing the victory on back-to-back blocks by sophomore Jenna Beyers and an ace by junior Faith Davis.
“The girls wanted to win really bad. They played a really controlled game,” Paton-Churdan head coach John Johnson said. “We got a lot of nice passes, we served the ball real aggressive and we jumped on them quick.
With a team like Glidden-Ralston, when you get on them, I noticed in the first set that they got uptight and started yelling at each other a little bit and we took advantage of it.”
Glidden-Ralston begun to find their mojo late in the opening set, tying it twice in the final five points.
The Wildcats rode that late momentum to convincing victories in the second and third sets. The Wildcats outscored the Rockets by 28 in the next two games (25-12 and 25-10) to take a commanding 2-1 set lead into the fourth.
“(Glidden-Ralston) did a better job in the second and third set of getting us uptight and yelling at each other I think that was the difference,” Johnson said.
A string of unforced Rocket errors also played a factor in the final three sets, especially in the fourth frame, a game which saw Paton-Churdan lead throughout. The Rockets were one point from victory before Glidden-Ralston fought back to close out the match, 26-24.
The Wildcats’ scored the last four points, facing set point on two different occasions.
The final set saw seven ties and a handful of lead changes. Several miscues and a scrambling defense, a common theme for most of the season, was what ultimately led to Paton-Churdan’s demise.
A substantial mismatch with Fleecs also played a role in the fourth set collapse.
“We had a couple of balls fall in the middle of the floor that we didn’t really go for,” Johnson said. “Julia (Fleecs) did a good job of getting up and swinging it.”
Fleecs finished the game with 12 kills and three blocks, with a majority of her points coming in the final three sets. Her vicious kills put the Rockets on their heels for most of the night.
“She took advantage of our weaknesses,” Johnson said. “We got to a point where we were trying so hard to dig the ball that we weren’t getting to the right spot on defense and were running around crazy on the back row and I think that led to some easy points.”
The lack of height on Paton-Churdan’s front line hurt the Rockets’ hopes of matching up with Fleecs. But Johnson put forth a game plan that seemed to work in the early stages of the match.
“There (are) certain things you can do to stop her and it worked off and on. But on the other hand, my blockers are obviously a lot shorter than she is. And then, on the right side, my setter doesn’t even block. So to have only one blocker out there, that makes it tough,” Johnson said. “I thought our girls did a good job of serving aggressive at them so she couldn’t get the type of set she wanted. When she’s that tall and can get up and swing, it’s tough.”
The Rockets head to Carroll Saturday for the Tigers’ tournament, which is set to start at 9 a.m.
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