BUCYRUS — Wynford did its homework and came prepared to play in its Northern 10 Athletic Conference match with rival Bucyrus Tuesday night, head coach Tiniel Nickler said.
The result was a 25-20, 25-13, 25-15 sweep, giving the Lady Royals their first league win.
“It’s huge. We are a young team and going into the stats and the preparation we did yesterday at practice, we told the girls to give 110% effort. We have the athletes to show up. We’ve got to want it more than the other team,” Nickler said.
“This was a home-court advantage for Bucyrus. But we got it done because we wanted it.”
Wynford (1-4, 4-5) took the first set that featured nine ties. Sophomore standout Brooke Frombaugh’s six kills led the way.
“We lost five seniors coming into this year. We had some sophomores that have stepped up and I’m very proud of them. Even my seniors, three of them, have stepped up in a leadership role and come together on the court,” Nickler said.
Cali Holbrook and Mallorie Williams gave Frombaugh plenty of help, along with freshman Kate McGuire.
“Brooke is a great player. They have a freshman, Kate, that’s really, really good. She kept going right at ’em. She worked through her kinks and did a good job,” Lady Red head coach Amber Christy said. “We just have to get better at covering our defense. We just simply got outplayed. They picked up more balls than we did.”
Bucyrus (1-4, 2-7) is a young team with just two seniors.
“We gave effort. They understand that there’s a role they have to play, and they need to play it,” Christy said.
“We have that youth on the floor, and I was pretty proud of my freshmen today. I think in the future you are going to see both of them as big-time hitters on our team, possibly even playing more than what they do now.”
Those freshmen — Tori Stang and Peyton Fackler — made their presence felt. Stang had four kills and Fackler three for Bucyrus. Fackler had the lone solo block.
Reese Garvin had 21 digs, Haylee Stratton 16, and Aubrie Kimmel 12. Stratton (two aces) and Fackler had 11 serving points each.
Wynford roared out of the gate in set two, building a 6-2 lead and then pushing it to 18-7. Kimmel and Stang combined for a block early in the set.
But Frombaugh nailed one deep and Wynford won 25-13.
“We’re all going to make mistakes. We’re human. We need to pick ourselves up and get past those mistakes and make it up with a good pass or a good hit,” Nickler said. “Bucyrus ran two different defenses tonight, and we adjusted to those, and we got the open spots on the court.”
The Lady Red started the third set with a 2-0 lead before the visitors tied it at 4-4. From there Wynford withstood back-to-back serving aces from Stratton before Frombaugh and McGuire scored for Wynford, which ran off a 12-5 spurt to end the set.
“We’re still growing and have a lot to learn. Me as a coach as well. We’re all learning together and stepping into the winning role, and it feels good,” Nickler said.
Frombaugh and Williams registered points for the Lady Royals in that set. Stang had two of her kills.
“We’ve had a rough start. Our senior setter had an injury at the beginning of the season,” Nickler said.
Frombaugh led the Lady Royals in kills. Senior Gretchen Shade was the assists leader and Holbrook led with five blocks.
Wynford hosts N10 leader Mohawk on Thursday. The Lady Warriors moved to 4-0 and in first place in the league and 7-0 overall with a win over Upper Sandusky.
“We have Mohawk and they’re a great team. We all know that, but we are not going to go in timid,” Nickler said. “We are going to watch film and come in prepared and walk away with our heads held high.”
Bucyrus visits the Lady Rams.
“Upper’s a good team. They didn’t graduate a lot, but they’ve been battling with teams. It’s a game where we can go in and compete. But we have to play our positions and get their individual jobs done on the court,” Christy said.
Wynford won the junior varsity match 25-27, 25-18, 25-22.