NORTH ROBINSON — It had been nearly six years. Oct. 4, 2017, was the last time Bucyrus defeated Colonel Crawford in volleyball.
The Lady Red broke that drought — and did so convincingly.
They fell behind 9-1 in the first set, but rallied to win 25-23, 25-11, 25-20 in Northern 10 Athletic Conference volleyball action Thursday night at Mac Morrison Gymnasium.
“It’s nice to get the win. We really debated on playing Emma (Tyrrell) today because I think she has a pinched nerve in her neck. Our trainer says she strained something,” Bucyrus (4-4, 1-3) head coach Amber Christy said following the win.
Despite not being at full strength, Tyrrell had a terrific game, netting 11 kills and playing solid all-around.
“My lineup did not have Emma in it. I was really hoping that I wouldn’t have to play her very much today, but she was not happy with me. She texted me all day long. She wanted to play, so we give her the ball and see how she feels. If she had been hurting, I would have pulled her out immediately,” Christy said.
“She played pretty well, lights out tonight. When you have a gun like that, your center gets used to feeding her instead of moving it. I kept reminding Emma not to let a ball get behind you and hurt her arm because we have four more games coming up that are going to be good games.”
Colonel Crawford (0-7, 0-4) is in a rebuilding process under new head coach Jamie Valentine, with two seniors and one junior on the squad.
“I told the girls I can’t be upset with the effort we gave tonight. I felt defensively, compared to the last match we had, I don’t even want to recall how the defensive effort was. But in the end set-receive is just something we continue to struggle with, and communication and executing on attacks,” Valentine said.
Niyah Shipman, one of the seniors, led the way with 10 kills and junior Camryn Powers added 8. Freshman Lexi Rankin had 2 blocks, as did Shipman.
Bucyrus started slowly, until Christy called a timeout.
“We were down 9-1 and I called a timeout and had a come to heart with them,” she said. “And they went back in and won. Just getting them to believe they can win if we play ball. We weren’t clean at all tonight. We played sloppy ball, but in the next breath we played some great ball.”
From there Bucyrus tied the game at 10-10 and at 14-14 to win the first set. Tyrrell, Layla Ellis, and freshman Aubrie Kimmel got points.
Lillian Neumann was tough at the net with several blocks and 5 kills.
The young Lady Eagles struggled and fell in the second set after a 5-5 tie as Bucyrus ran off a 16-5 stretch.
“The pressure gets to them a little bit, being young and inexperienced. They’re trying to hit the spots we’re telling them to, but sometimes they overthink in the heat of the moment and mistakes are made,” Valentine said.
“We can’t allow them to go on runs and that’s what they did. They did a great job of executing when the time was right. In that first set we came out and had some great moments to get started. Then we kind of like pumped the brakes and kept doing the same old, same old we’ve been dealing with.”
The third set saw the Lady Eagles go up 3-1, but Bucyrus came back to tie the game before expanding to a 16-14 lead and then closing the door.
Christy said this was the first time she has faced Valentine as opposing coaches in the regular season. Valentine coached at Galion for 14 seasons before she stepped down in 2019. Her teams won 180 matches and four league titles.
“She retired and I retired. Both got back into it. I think that she’s trying to build a program now and I’m trying to build a program now. We know the battles and the bumps that are going to come along the way,” Christy said.
“You have to get in the gym every day and get them to believe every day. Like Jamie said, it gets in your blood.”
Valentine saw some encouraging signs in the loss.
“The intensity was there, and the energy was a little bit more than what I’ve seen from them the last couple of matches. It’s something that I can’t stop preaching about. It’s such an important part of the mental aspect of the game,” she said.
“We have to take the little things that we get each night and do better than we did the night before. It was a good match and both teams played hard.”
Valentine also praised Shipman’s play.
“She’s just one of those kids, a great athlete and sometimes she is so out of position but is able to get a great kill out of it. She brings great energy and has taken hold of that leadership role.
“When it comes time to make a play, she’s the one telling Ella (Agee), ‘Give it to me. I’m taking the ball.’ Her hard work and her athleticism is what makes it that much more fun.”
Agee was 8-for-8 serving. Tori Spitler had 14 digs and Shipman 9.
Tyrrell was 29 of 31 hitting with 11 kills, 10 digs, and an ace for the Lady Red. Kimmel had 10 digs, four kills, and was 15 of 15 serving with two aces.
Layla Ellis was 11 of 11 serving with two aces and added 12 digs. Addy Ricker had 24 assists and was eight for eight serving with two aces.
Bucyrus hosts Mapleton Saturday and returns to league play against Wynford Tuesday night.
Crawford visits Vanlue Saturday and then Carey Tuesday.