BLUFFTON (Crawford County Now) — The joyful ride came to an abrupt halt for Colonel Crawford in the Division V district volleyball championship at Bluffton University’s Sommer Center Thursday night.
The second-seeded Lady Eagles (19-6) couldn’t overcome a slow start, falling to No. 1 seed Coldwater (21-4) by 25-13, 25-19, 20-25 and 25-19.
“We were a little bit sluggish and didn’t show a lot of energy at the start. That made a huge difference for us because we’re definitely a team that relies on that,” said head coach Jaime Valentine.
Coldwater staked an 11-5 lead in set 1 as Harlow Heyne had a pair of kills. The Cavaliers built the lead to 19-9 and never were challenged in the opener.
“It took us a little while to figure that out and finally got a little spark and were able to take a set from them. We couldn’t capitalize on the unforced errors that they had, unfortunately,” she said.
“I thought they tried to execute the game plan that we had but just couldn’t make it happen.”
Set 2 started well for Crawford as Alaina Parr’s ace and Reese Redman’s kill made it 2-0. Sophia Gray’s 2 aces put CC up 7-3.
But Coldwater came back and forced a 10-10 tie before Heyne and Ella Werling pushed their team ahead for good.
“They did a good job of controlling our offense. That was a big key. We had a couple kids struggle at the net and it’s hard for them to get past that,” Valentine said.
The Lady Eagles came out strong to start the third set.
An Emmi Powers block and kills by Saylor Holt and Parr gave them a 9-6 advantage. Again, Coldwater countered, tying it at 14-14 on Mara Riethman’s kill.
But Parr answered back and the teams traded points until her kill and a Coldwater error gave Colonel Crawford the set and new life.
“We definitely made them work for it at the end, but we need to bring that energy at the beginning of the match. And had we done that, who knows what might have happened,” Valentine said.
A Parr serving ace, a Redman kill and one from Powers put the Lady Eagles on top 4-1. But once more Coldwater went on a 10-3 run to close it out.
The Cavaliers advance to the Ontario regional next Thursday at 8 p.m. against another top seed, Huron, a 3-set winner over Archbold.
“The girls came out and were serving super aggressive and I think that took Crawford out of their opportunities. Their setters did a nice job of running a quick transition ball,” Cavaliers coach Nikki Etzler said.
“Our blockers struggled a little bit with that but got better as the match went on. We’re just loving being here and competing. Last year we missed out on it (regionals) and it’s a hard thing to do to get back there.”
Redman had 12 kills and Parr 11 for the Lady Eagles.
“Hopefully, they take that hurt that they’re feeling now and plug it into the off season,” Valentine said.
“Figure out what we’ve got to work on to get us back here and move on. This group has been awesome to coach and how tight knit it is. They truly love and care about each other, and that makes it hard when we walk into the locker room tonight.”