By RYAN WALKER
The Bluffton volleyball team fell to 1-4 in conference play Tuesday night with a 3-1 loss at Adams Central.
The Tigers had just come off a big weekend on Saturday morning, winning the Canterbury Invitational with wins over Canterbury, South Side, and the Fort Wayne Falcons. More importantly, they got their senior setter back in Emma Baumgartner, who was out with pink eye.
After winning the tournament, head coach Stacy Morrison emphasized the importance of one of her best players, along with her vocal leader returning to the Tigers.
“She’s a natural leader,” head coach Stacy Morrison said. “She’s someone that the team responds to. Plus, she’s been setting ever since she started playing the game, so she’s a natural leader. She knows how to run those quick offenses, and she’s an asset not only as a setter but as a leader on the court.”
They would head into enemy territory at The Hanger, home of the Jets, who came into the night with a 7-9 record.
In the first set, Bluffton and Adams Central alternated the first eight points before the Jets took flight with a score of 13-7. Any momentum Bluffton got was taken right back with an answer.
Immediately after a Bluffton timeout, senior Riley Couch came down with an injury near the net and would take her out for the remainder of the game.
This isn’t the first time the Tigers have dealt with adversity, as Morrison has had to rotate players around frequently throughout the season.
“We lost a starter outside and plays all the away around, and one of our best overall passers early,” she said. “So we kind of juggled things around. We had some people play back or front row that don’t normally do that.”
She said Haley Gibson and Cayah King ended up playing all the way around instead of their normal position in the back row.
Although the Jets took advantage of the new lineup with a 25-16 first-set win, Bluffton had an answer.
After going down 6-3, the Tigers crawled their way to a 7-6 lead, their first real lead of the night. A few short scoring streaks, two timeouts from the Jets, and more dominant play propelled the Tigers to a 25-19 set.
“I think there was a little bit of fire from Riley going down and wanting to play for her,” Morrison admitted.
Before the third set began, Adams Central put on a miniature fundraiser for about five minutes. Anyone in attendance could pay one dollar to try and serve a ball to the other side of the court and attempt to hit a hula hoop to win a prize. The prizes were shirts and gift cards, playing music during the break.
When the game resumed, Bluffton was unable to continue the fire they had started in the second set, feeling the effects of losing one of their starters.
The Tigers lost the fourth set 25-14, ending on a 12-2 run from the Jets, and the fourth set 25-15.
Despite the loss, Morrison was happy with how her team responded to more adversity.
“They played with a lot of heart,” she said. “I would say the biggest thing is we had a hard time shutting down the middle with that three ball, and she scored quite a few on that tip offset. That’s what hurt us.”
“I think they played together. They never got down on each other, and that’s what I want to see as a coach,” she added.
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