BUCYRUS — Last year, Bucyrus traveled to Ashland Crestview and the upstart Lady Red came home with a 3-2 decision.
Thursday night, the Cougars exacted some revenge, turning the tables with a 3-2 win of their own, by scores of 25-14, 25-11, 18-25, 21-25, 15-13.
“Our thing we’ve been working on and focusing on this year is finishing what we started,” Crestview coach Sadie Catlett said. “It got a little rocky there in the middle, but today we were able to come back and finish.”
Bucyrus coach Amber Christy was disappointed with the start for her team.
“We played our worst volleyball in the first two (sets),” Christy said. “We probably gave them more points than they earned.”
Crestview (2-1) appeared to be on the way to a sweep, breezing through the opening two sets by a combined 25 points. But a chat before the third set changed the tempo for the Lady Red.
“They were playing very cautious,” Christy said. “We couldn’t get a pass up to put the ball down. I told the girls, ‘When you start getting nervous and playing cautious, you’ve got to breathe. It’s one point at a time.’ That’s how you win games.”
While the talk may not have been on par with ‘Win one for the Gipper’, it was effective enough to motivate Christy’s charges to force five sets.
Bucyrus (2-1) reeled off the first eight points of the third set and never trailed, leading by as many as 10 points. The Cougars pulled to within two points twice and were as close as 21-18 late before the Lady Red closed it out, scoring the final four points.
The Lady Red had a tougher fight in the fourth set, where the score was tied at 13-13 and 18-18 before Bucyrus went on a 7-3 run to get the win and force a fifth set.
“That’s the one nice thing about going five,” Christy said. “You can be down 2-0 and still come back and win. I told them to go out there, breathe and relax and play their game and that’s what they did.”
The comeback fell just short, however. Crestview built a 13-8 lead in the deciding set, then held off a furious Bucyrus rally to take the set, 15-13.
“Our mental game is where we’re struggling a little bit,” Catlett said. “They kind of thought they had it in the bag. So, coming back out in that third set and still fighting for every point, that’s what goes with finish. Even when you think the game is over, you come out and perform at 100 percent.”
“Bucyrus volleyball doesn’t come back much, at least they haven’t recently,” Christy said. “Even last year (a nine-win season), when we got down, it was hard to come back and win.
“You feel bad (with the loss) and yet you have to be proud of them because these girls have come a long way. They’re working their tails off.”
Emma Tyrrell led the Lady Red with 26 kills, 16 digs, and five solo blocks. Layla Ellis had 20 digs and Addison Ricker had 33 assists. Aubrie Kimmel added six kills, while Isabella Stang and Addison Kemery had two solo blocks each.
“The crowd was wonderful tonight,” Christy said. “Kudos to Bucyrus for coming out and supporting the kids because we haven’t seen that. I told the girls when you earn (the fans’) respect, that is when they’ll come out and watch.”
Catlett felt that a battle of evenly matched teams was beneficial to her squad moving forward.
“That’s what we need,” Catlett said. “We needed to prove to ourselves that we can fight through and win and finish a game. It was definitely well needed for us today.”
“The last three was exciting volleyball for people to see,” Christy said. “We’ll just come in tomorrow, work hard, and then have Crestline on Saturday. Then we open league on Tuesday. We just have to be ready to go.”