By RYAN WALKER
PONETO — Southern Wells made a statement in the first set on the court, but Bluffton’s was just bigger the rest of the game.
The Raiders (8-9, 0-3 ACAC) made their case in the first set, drilling the Tigers (3-11, 1-3 ACAC) 25-10. But a switch was flipped. Bluffton wasn’t about to let their Wells County rivals have it easy.
In sets two through four, the Tigers held a firm lead and won three in a row 25-23, 25-17 and 25-20.
Bluffton head coach Caylee Pyle has had a rocky road with her young group, trying to get them to play a full game at their highest level. In every five-set game (or three sets in tournaments), the team has fallen short. She wanted consistency, and she finally got it, and it was rewarding.
“It was 110% our mentality,” Pyle said. “We came in with the confidence that I’ve been trying to build in them in the past couple of months. They’re finally starting to believe it. We’re having great practices and we’re seeing it. To be witness to that is something so special and I’m so proud of my girls and all of their hard work, and for trusting me. To watch them grow and flourish is amazing.”
On the other sideline, Southern Wells started fast and ended short. Head coach Whitney Powell’s Raiders have improved significantly from last year after going 1-23 to now at 8-9. But there’s still room to grow, as Powell would like to see the team, like Pyle’s, get to their highest point and stay there.
“Adversity hits and we get tight and we start to shut down instead of getting that grit of ‘I’m going to do this’ or ‘This ball is not scoring on us.’ We’ve just got to learn to get that (grit),” Powell said.
Pyle said that there were two differences between the first set and the rest.
The first was that she made a lineup adjustment. Not to any one player from the bench, but the order of them. She switched her No. 1 hitter from Isla Gibson to Rori Drayer. This allowed for Sophie Eisenhut, a 5’11” middle hitter, to have the first look at the front of the net. Maryn Schreiber started to serve and worked her way to the front.
That way, the Tigers always had strong members on the front and back row.
The second part was that the seniors took control of the team after the first-set loss.
“Our seniors really just stepped up and said ‘I’m tired of how we’ve been playing. I want it because this is my last year,’ and the girls finally listened.”
Southern Wells played in the first set like it had been for most of the season. It also has a young roster, learning from Powell how to play the game.
There were flashes of excellence and determination. Toward the end of the second set, the Raiders were down 24-19 and crawled back to 24-23. If it wasn’t for an unlucky hit, they had a shot to send it into overtime.
Freshmen captain Abbie Powell contributed again on the stat sheet, producing 19 kills and increasing her ACAC-leading 208 for the year. Sophomores Kila Shelley had six kills and Kaylea Coffel 16 digs. Senior Aly Green had six kills as grown.
Powell wasn’t discouraged at all with her team after the game, but took the loss as a chance to get better and understand where they can be.
“I was really relaxed and comfortable before the game,” Powell said. “I just had good vibes and felt good about what we were doing. We had a really good warmup and we played great in Game 1. Just looking at that, I’m proud of where we’re able to go to, but that’s not where we want to peak out at. We’ve just got to figure out how to push through that.”
She said that the girls were emotional in the locker room following the loss, and Powell was happy that they took it hard so they could get back in the gym and work.
“I told them ‘That means you care.’ We’re getting somewhere, we’re just not there yet,” Powell said.
Bluffton’s stat leaders for the night were Schreiber with 16 kills, Gibson 30 assists, Marly Drayer four aces, Rori Drayer 14 digs and both Schreiber and Eisenhut two blocks.
Bluffton won the junior varsity match 2-0 (25-21, 25-17). Satt leaders: Lucy Mace eight kills and four aces, Jaida Mills 12 digs, Kamryn Ault 16 assists and Bridget Steffen one block.
Bluffton will be at the Canterbury Invitational at 9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 21.
Southern Wells will be at Canterbury at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24.
ryan@news-banner.com
