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Wooster Triway topples No. 2 Bishop Hartley and No. 1 Salem, vaults into top spot September 24, 2008 By Jim Jicha It isn’t often a team faces the top two ranked teams in the state on the same day, let alone beats both of them. But fifth rated Wooster Triway did all of that in their tri-match on Saturday, as they knocked off second ranked Bishop Hartley 18-25, 25-23, 25-18 in the opener, and downed number one Salem 25-15, 25-21 in the nightcap. Those conquests vaulted the 15-1 Titans over 14-0 Tipp City Tippecanoe and 13-0 Kenston, and into first place on this week's Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association poll. Their only loss is to Albany Alexander, ranked sixth in Division III. The wins also caused Coach Jacki Zody to remark “Today was a total team effort, everyone was awesome”. Awesome they were, especially Allison Kearney who, in addition to sensational setting, dazzled fans with saves, dumps, blocks and kills. Her understanding of the game is superb, and it showed throughout the day. On at least three occasions she skipped errant serve receives by teammates into holes on the other side of the court. Of course, stellar passing by libero Lauren Rock made Kearney’s job easier. And Rock could have won a gymnastics event with some of her digs. What she, Grenert and Kearney didn’t get to was picked up by defensive specialists Skye Patterson and Leah Molter. Meanwhile, 6’0” middle Ellen Grenert and 5’11” outside Erica Ritchey threaded the defenses all day with cross-court shots and spikes down the line. However, the day didn’t really start that well for the Titansas they racked up 16 miscues in the first game with Hartley. And while some of those were forced, six service errors certainly were not. Hartley scored first on a kill by 5’11” senior middle/right side Allison Hagans. Triway tied on a hitting error, but sophomore outside Lauren Hughes and junior middle blocker Allie Holehouse pounded kills, and the Hawks led from there. With junior outside Shelby Sagle serving two aces, and 5’11” senior right side Loren Fallert blocking, the Hawks flew away 11-5. A kill by junior outside Krista Leighty ended that run and an ace by Kearney narrowed the gap to 11-8, but a rash of errors helped the Hawks gain further traction, and after a termination by Sagle the score was 18-11. The closest Triway could get was 23-18, at which point Hagans put a big block on Grenert in the middle, and a long Titan hit ended it. Hartley scored twice to start game two, and from 2-2 the Hawks moved out to 5-3, thanks to a kill and a block by Hagans, and three more Titan miscues. On the ensuing volley, the Triway receiver passed Hagans’ serve over the net, but Kearney blocked the attempted demolition. She then crushed a Hartley overpass, but alas, she was ruled in the net. It may have been her ponytail, but on the next volley she was all over the net, and the Hawks were on top 7-4. But change was coming. Triway senior outside Leigha Poulson scored a kill, sending Rock to the line. At this point Kearney took charge, starting with a block. On the next volley she sent a teammate’s overpass into a hole, and followed with a blast into right back. A Hawks’ hitting error put Triway in front 10-7. That lead was short lived, as Sagle blocked for one point and spiked off a Triway block for another, and outside hitter Michelle Briggs served Hartley back in front 12-10. But Kearney blocked a tip, and after Fallert scored for Hartley, Grenert nailed a well placed cross-court and delivered a booming block to retie things at 13. Poulson followed with an ace, and she then dug a Hawks’ spike which sophomore Briele Sweeney followed with a kill, and Triway took the lead for good 16-13. The Hawks, however, stayed close on scoring by Hagans and Sagle. Triway’s biggest lead came at 22-18 on a tip from Ritchey, and a booming block from Poulson. But Holehouse terminated a great backset from Lindsay Gaughan, and the Hawks scored again on what was only the second Triway error since the score was 12-10. Poulson tipped to put the Titans up 23-20, Fallert blocked for Hartley, and a Hartley service error put Triway at game point. Hagans, however drilled a quick hit, and Fallert served an ace to make the home fans squirm, before Grenert demolished a quick set down the middle to end it. Scoring went back and forth in the tiebreaker, with nine ties and one lead change to 9-9, as Holehouse and Sagle led Hartley, while Leighty scored points 8 and 9 for Triway. On the next volley Ritchey and Grenert dove for saves, and Hartley eventually hit long to put Triway back in front. Grenert then tipped to end an intense volley, and after Hagans scored, Triway came up with another defensive point when Poulson dug a would-be termination to preserve a long volley which finally ended on a Hartley hitting miscue. Kearney then dumped another teammate’s errant pass into a hole, and one Hartley point later, she stuff blocked Sagle and demolished an overpass to give the Titans a 16-11 lead. Hughes came up with a couple of kills, but two errors kept the Hawks from closing as Triway stayed in front 18-15. And after a blast by Grenert was dug into the wall, the Titans advanced to 21-15 on an ace from defensive specialist Leah Molter. Three kills by Grenert made it 24-17. One Hartley score later, Ritchey tipped off the block for match point. ******************************************************************************** Hartley downed Salem, which was missing their top setter, 25-20, 25-18 in the second match. The Quakers were also hampered by seven service errors in game one. But in fairness to Hartley, they’ve been playing without star senior middle Giana D’Andrea since the third match of the season. The Hawks scored the first two points on errors, after which Salem got on the board on a kill by sophomore setter/hitter Mariah Halleck. Scoring went back and forth as 5’11” Quaker middle Alli Ward blocked Hagans, who countered with a kill. A termination by 6’0” junior Salem hitting stud Amy Scullion and a Hawks’ error knotted the score at 6. Trailing 8-6, Salem scored six of the next seven, led by Scullion and 5’8” junior Olivia Mitchley who blocked for a point. That left Salem atop 12-9, but Hartley scored four straight and went ahead for good 16-13 on an ace by Hagans. Holehouse blocked a Quaker dump to up the lead to 19-14 and a kill by Fallert made it 21-15. Scullion scored on a pop into mid-court and libero Bri Wagner served an ace, but Quaker hopes for a rally were dashed by two errors, and soon after Hagans smashed a game-winning cross-court shot into an empty back left. Hartley jumped out 3-0 in game two on an ace by Fallert and a dump and kill by Hagans. Mitchley scored for Salem, but Hagans countered with a tip, and she and Holehouse teamed for a block on Scullion. Scullion served two aces to narrow the lead to 5-4. The Hawks scored three helped by two kills from Holehouse. Quaker junior Taylor Sauerwein set Scullion in back court for a tip, and 5’11” middle hitter Lydia Shivers spiked a Hartley block to cut the lead to 8-7. Gaughan dumped for Hartley and Scullion countered with a blast that was dug into the upper deck. But Hartley spurted ahead 13-8 thanks to Fallert who dug a partial block and also scored on a well-placed hit. And despite three more points from Scullion and a kill by Mitchley, the closest the Quakers could get was 15-13. Hartley opened it up to 21-15 from there. Scullion added two more points, but three Salem miscues put them in the hole 24-17. On the final volley, Weisenberger made a great pass on a smash by Scullion, and Hughes spiked through a double block for the match winner. ******************************************************************************** Game one of the final match saw five ties and two lead changes to 6-6 as Scullion pounded kills from front and back court, and served an ace. Triway, however, took the lead for good on a kill by Sweeney, moving ahead 10-7 on an ace from Rock. After point trading Grenert blocked to make it 14-10, and the Titans added to their margin. With the score 20-13 Kearney blocked Scullion, who then hit out trying to get around Kearney and Leighty. Scullion demolished her next attempt into the Titans’ midcourt, and also sent a termination right at Rock, but Leighty followed each point with a kill. With the score 24-15, Kearney dug Scullion twice and Grenert delivered a game winning shot down the middle off a diving dig. Triway never trailed in game two, although the score was close at both the start and the end. The teams traded the first three points, after which Grenert smoked a cross-court shot and Kearney blocked to put the Titans up for good. Following a long serve, Kearney turned another errant teammate pass into a scoring dump, and sophomore Skye Patterson followed with six service points. Ritchey and Poulson led the attack, while Grenert and Poulson kept Salem missives from touching the floor. Scullion blocked and spiked to lead a Quaker mini-rally. But with the score 14-9, Grenert crushed a short set to end an intense volley, and Kearney smoked a kill from backcourt. On the next volley, Rock scored a perfect 10 to prevent a termination, and when a subsequent save by Kearney was dug over and out by Salem, Triway seemed to be back in control 17-9. The Quakers, however, dug in their heels, with Scullion serving an ace to narrow the margin to 17-12. Still trailing 20-14 they took full advantage of a Titan net infraction. After block by Scullion was lifted, senior middle Jessie Dillon blocked Poulson. Following a Triway timeout, Shivers and Scullion teamed for another block, and an ace by Ward cut the lead to a single digit. A great save by Wagner kept the ensuing volley alive, but Kearney came up huge, dumping into a hole to keep Triway on top. And when the Titans obliged with a net serve, Poulson tempered with a kill that was blocked over but out. Kearney followed with two service aces, and one Salem point later, Grenert smoked match point off a Quaker block. Coach Zody said afterward she thought her team lost some intensity in the middle of game two. Her message in the timeout was “don’t do anything foolish, just keep the ball in play”. The Titans do very well when they keep the ball in play. ******************************************************************************** Triway stats: Vs. Bishop Hartley Serving: Lauren Rock 11/12, 6 points; Leigha Poulson 7/11, 6 points (despite being under the weather) Hitting: Ellen Grenert 24/27, 12 kills; Erica Ritchey 14/16, 8 kills; Allison Kearney 11/12, 6 kills Setting: Allison Kearney 67/68, 26 assists Blocking: Ellen Grenert & Allison Kearney, 3 kill blocks each Digs: Lauren Rock 15; Ellen Grenert 13 Vs. Salem Serving: Skye Patterson 12/12, 8 points; Lauren Rock 6/8, 4 points Hitting: Ellen Grenert 15/18, 10 kills; Leigha Poulson 8/10, 4 kills; Erica Ritchey 9/10, 4 kills; Allison Kearney 5/6, 4 kills (she was whistled for a net violation on a really great kill that went down as an error!) Setting: Allison Kearney 37/37, 19 assists Blocking: Allison Kearney 3 kill blocks Digs: Lauren Rock 8, Ellen Grenert 7
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