NEW WASHINGTON — Championship teams are resilient and find ways to win.
Mohawk did just that and remained undefeated after an early scare from host Buckeye Central in a hard fought Northern 10 Athletic Conference volleyball match Tuesday night.
Buckeye Central took the first two sets 26-24 and 25-22 with solid serving and net play. But Mohawk displayed incredible fortitude in winning the next three sets, 25-14, 25-21 and 15-10.
Head coach Eric Hoover said his squad showed its character.
“Even when we got it to five, I just wanted to give us a chance. We want to be in matches like that at the end of the year and test yourself at tournament time. To be able to come back against a good team like that makes it even more hopeful,” he said.
The Lady Warriors (18-0, 11-0) stay in first place with the win, while the Buckettes remain in third at 12-6 overall and 8-3 in the league.
Head coach Missy McDougal was disappointed with the outcome, but not the effort.
“To win the first two and not be able to finish. Hats off to them. They’re a great team and ranked seventh in Division IV for a reason. This showed how good we can be. I mean it hurts. The girls are upset, and I’m upset because we had our opportunities and just didn’t finish.”
The Buckettes overcame a 17-13 Mohawk lead by going on a 12-6 run and securing the first set on a Mia McDougal kill. The hosts won the final five points and the first 10 points in the second set to stake an 11-1 lead and go on to win the second set.
“The second one we buried ourselves,” Hoover said. “I don’t know what was going on. We couldn’t pass the ball at all and were making hitting errors. They were blocking us, and we were hitting right into the block.”
Things turned around in the third set. Relying on Mia Miller and Biz Klopp, the Lady Warriors took an early lead and held it.
“I told the girls after the second set. They’re not laying down. They’re coming back,” McDougal said. “I said how tough can you guys be mentally, because they’re good. They got big hitters, and we knew they were going to get their kills. We didn’t come up with enough stops.”
The fourth set was a real nail-biter with 11 ties.
Kimmy Biglin and Mia McDougal got key points for Buckeye Central. Adrienne Jury had a kill and a block that made it an 8-8 contest. But a couple of mental errors proved costly, and Mohawk held on for a 25-21 lead to force a fifth set.
Hoover said communication was a key in overcoming the early deficit.
“You try to talk your way through it and overcommunicate yourself. You have to stay positive and try to forget any mistake you made and just worry about the next ball,” he said.
“The girls really came together. We’re in a good spot. We have three league matches left with a two-game lead. Anybody is capable of coming out and beating you any night. We have very good teams and coaches in this league.”
In the fifth set Mia McDougal put BC ahead 4-2 with a kill. But Mohawk battled back to tie it at six apiece before Buckeye Central took a 10-7 lead.
The Lady Warriors then scored eight straight points to get the victory.
“I thought our serve-receive wasn’t as sharp as it was the first two sets and we were out of system a lot and we weren’t able to attack as much as we need to,” McDougal said. “We resorted to tipping the last two sets and that keeps you in games, but not win you games. We need to be aggressive.”
Senior Mia McDougal had a great all-around game.
“She showed up. She’s a gamer and comes ready to play. She did everything she possibly could do … I can’t ask for much more from her.”
Mohawk’s size was a factor, with the 6-foot 2 Klopp and the 5-10 Miller, playing strong at the net.
“Klopp probably still had 20 or 30 kills. We got our hands on some balls and tried to be a little more aggressive serving and tried to get them out of synch so they couldn’t go to her every time,” McDougal said. “Mia’s 5-6. I thought we put up a valiant fight.”
Actually, Klopp recorded 22 kills and Miller 18. Allison Russell played solid defense with 28 digs and Avery Hoover had 20.
Averie Barth had 12 digs, 12 assists and three aces. Miller had eight blocks and Klopp six.
The loss has value for Buckeye Central heading into the league wrap-up and tournament play.
“As upset as I am, that’s a great game to play and we still got a tough game Thursday with Seneca East. They’re going to be ready to play. I told the girls we can’t let this loss affect us moving forward. We need to use it tuning up for the tournaments.”
Mohawk hosts Upper Sandusky on Thursday.
Sophomore Maren McDougal picked up her 1,000th career assist in the fourth set.