ATTICA — Confidence means everything to a volleyball team in a big match. Galion and Willard entered Thursday night’s Division V district title match just brimming with confidence.
But, according to Willard coach Ashley Bond, her team knows it is going to win.
The Flashes, who are the fifth-ranked team in the state and the top seed in the district tournament, won the first two sets against the Tigers.
However, the talented Tigers came storming back, scoring 10 straight points midway through the third game to get the win.
Bond said that her team never wavered.
“We got down in game three,” Bond said. “You could look at them at the bench and you could see it was not panic; let’s go out there for game four. It wasn’t like ‘Oh my gosh, I hope we do good.’ They knew it; they had it. They have so much experience on the court; I don’t say a thing. People ask me what I say to them, I don’t have to say anything; they know what they’re doing on the court.”
Willard won the district crown, coming back strong in game four to best the Tigers, 25-15, 25-23, 21-25, 25-19.
With the win, the Flashes (21-4) advance to the Elida regional tournament and will face either North Union and Madison Plains on Oct. 31 at 6 p.m. North Union and Madison Plains will play on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Granville High School.
Galion, which entered the tournament as the third seed, finished its season at 14-11. Galion coach Kathleen Davis said that her team battled throughout.
“For us, it’s just confidence,” Davis said. “My girls, from the very beginning, have been fighters. And that’s something I am really proud of them, all of them. And I’m really proud of my seniors, who have done a really good job of leading that, keeping their heads up and being able to keep fighting.”
The Tigers, however, faced a Willard team that can score from many positions, but still go as senior Kelsey Lykins goes.
Lykins finished with 12 kills to lead the Flashes, but teammates Leah Weiss (9 kills) and Camryn Weirs (10 kills) each forced the Tigers to tough situations.
“To me, that’s what makes our team so special,” Bond said. “You can’t focus on Kelsey. We have so many hitters that the next hitter is going to step up.”
Davis added that the Flashes’ ability to swing and score was the difference.
“Just swinging, that’s the biggest thing,” Davis said of the Flashes. “We have to make sure that we’re picking up balls and we just couldn’t get up enough defensive balls to be able to stay in the game. They’re a great team without a system. They’re not fifth in the state for nothing.”
Willard jumped out quickly in the first set, grabbing a 17-10 lead. Galion’s Kalynne Butterfield got a kill to put the Tigers in double-digits.
The Flashes got eight of the final 13 points to get the win.
The second set was more competitive, as Galion’s Katelynn Claus got a kill to tie the game at 20-20 late in the set.
Willard’s Natalie Slone and Galion’s Maddy Roseberry exchanged kills to tie the set at 21-21, before Galion’s Audrey Glew and Lykins exchanged kills to keep the match tied at 22-22.
The Flashes scored three of the final four points to seal the set two win.
The Tigers, however, took control of the third set midway through.
Trailing 14-9, Galion went on a run on the serve of Cameron Eckert, scored 10 straight points to take a 19-14 lead.
The Tigers got kills from Jillian Capretta, Roseberry, and Butterfield in the run. From there, Galion got two more kills from Madelyn Schieber and sealed the win.
Galion led early in the fourth set at 5-2 on a Roseberry block, but the Flashes held a 16-15 lead midway through the set before they took over.
Willard scored nine of the final 13 points to win the match.
“In game one, we were hitting shots, and they were hitting out of bounds,” Bond said. “That’s a big difference when we were hitting shots and scoring and they’re hitting out of bounds. In game three, when they started going on a run, they got the hitting down. It was more of what they did than what we weren’t doing.”