By Drew Herron - NT Sports Editor / Oct. 22, 2013
ELK HORN – Of all the sports throughout the school year,
perhaps no other team game is as fickle to the changes of momentum than is
volleyball.
That’s how it played out Tuesday night in Elk Horn.
Griswold fought back from down to game point in the opening
set and rallied off a five-point run to take the first game 26-24. That spell
proved to be a harbinger in the match, as Griswold seized an Class 1A opening-round
playoff victory from Exira-EHK in straight sets 26-24, 25-16 and 25-16.
After failing to close out the Tigers in the opening game
with a 24-21 lead, Exira-EHK unraveled slowly the rest of the way.
“That was the turning point,” Griswold coach Jody Rossell
says of the late charge in Game 1.
“The girls were able to build some momentum, and volleyball
is such a game of psychology and emotion…I think we were able to get inside the
head of our opponents a little bit.”
Tigers’ junior Marlia Rossell closed out the first set,
serving on a 5-0 run, and it kick started Griswold’s efficiency from the
service line the following two sets.
Rossell finished the match with four serving aces, and junior
Kayla Kirchhoff added three.
In Game 2, a 15-15 knot was broken with a 9-0 run from the
Tigers, and Griswold would eventually take that set as well, via 25-16 final.
As things started clicking for Griswold, they became
stronger in their attack up front, and with their defense.
At the net, Griswold’s Candice Howell finished with a
match-high 11 kills, and teammate Kinzey Nicklaus added 10 as the Tigers had
two players finish in double-digit figures. The duo accounted for 21 of the
team’s 30 kills on the night.
Serving as been a strength for the Tigers this season, but
the strong play at the net against a team with some height and blocking ability
was an encouraging sign, says coach Rossell.
“They’ve got some big blockers, and we were prepared for
that,” she says. “We worked on hitting around the block, and that worked out
pretty well for us.”
As Griswold flared, the Spartans struggled. Tuesday night
was clearly not Exira-EHK’s best effort.
“The girls have handled being down before, and they’ve been
able to chip away,” Spartans coach Conni Wyatt says. “Tonight, the intensity
just wasn’t there.
“It’s a very disappointing loss, especially for the seniors.
They are a better team than they showed tonight, and they don’t deserve to have
their final game go out this way.”
The Spartans finish the season with a 15-20 record.
With the first round victory, Griswold advances to the
second round, which the team will host next Tuesday (Oct. 29) against the
winner of Essex/South Page.
The Tigers improve 10-14 on the season with this most recent
victory, and despite a sub-.500 record, Griswold is playing with a lot of
confidence as it rolls into the second round of the tournament.
“We’ve been talking about this point in the season for
months,” coach Rossell says. “We know we’ve got a very difficult schedule with
our conference, but the positive side of that is it really prepares us for now,
when it counts.”
#iahsvb #griswoldtigers #exira-ehkspartans
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