The Lady Battlers went to Miller on Saturday, September 9th, to take on the 4-2 Lady Rustlers in an afternoon matinee. And they came out like the tortoise against the hare because it was basically all Rustlers in the first two sets.
In the first set, Miller racketed up seven kills and three aces to take a commanding lead – 4 to 14. Kayden Cronin only managed to get one kill. Then they went on another run to outscore Potter County 8 to 4 to increase their lead to 8 to 24. Zoe Meinke finally added one more power shot in this opening set, but it came way too late, and Miller took the first set 10 to 25.
In the second set, our Battlers never got up to speed again. Miller tallied eight kills and five aces to Potter County not registering a single kill or ace. The lack of power by our Battles led to them getting their lunch handed to them because they lost the second set 8 to 25.
Whatever Coach Wendy Rausch said to the girls before the third set started worked. When Kayden finally bombed only her second kill shot of the afternoon, she put her team up 2 to 1. Then Kayden registered two blocks and another devastating kill to push Potter County’s lead out to 5 to 3. Unfortunately, a miscue by the Battlers and a kill shot by the Rustlers tied up the set at 5-all.
A service error by both teams led to the set to be tied for the third time – 6-all. Then with another miscue it allowed Miller to take over the lead for the first time in the set. It was a lead they would hold until Kayden Cronin banged back-to-back kills to tie up the set for the fourth time – 18-all.
Following a miscue by the Rustlers and once more with back-to-back kill shots by our sensational senior – Kayden Cronin – the Battlers went up by three – 21 to 18. Miller’s middle hitter answered by busting a kill which was fine, but then on a questionable call, i.e., an alleged tip, the Rustlers got the point and serve back. On their serve they scored an ace, and it tied the set for the fifth time – 21-all.
A serving error by Miller and another miscue by Potter County led to the sixth tie – 22-all. But when junior Taylyn Rausch blocked Miller’s big middle hitter at the net she put the Battlers back up by one and made the Rustlers’ coach jump up demanding a Time Out. The momentum breaker didn’t work because it was Miller who made the miscue and Potter County not only increased their lead by two but found themselves at “set point” – 24 to 22.
It was at this point that Lady Luck, power, and the officials came into play to steal the set away from Battler Nation. First, on digging out a fierce kill shot by the Rustlers, Emma Schlachter’s dig ricocheted off the ceiling and landed in noman’s territory to get Miller back to one – 24 to 23. That same luck continued because following a long volley the Rustlers rolled the ball along the top of the net to have it fall on Potter County’s side to tie the set for the seventh time – 24-all. Then Miller cracked an ace to go up by one – 24 to 25. Finally, that man standing on the court wearing a blue shirt and black pants called a “rotation violation” as soon as Miller served. The violation gave the set and match to the home team – 24 to 26.
It always hurts – always – when an official is the reason why a team wins or loses. And after both teams congratulated one another at the net, Coach Rausch confronted the man in blue. Even though Coach Rausch made her point in a sportsman like manner, you know if this was baseball, she would have turned her cap around, spit out her gum, took up all the personal space between her and the umpire, and started kicking dirt because no official should be the reason why one wins or loses.
Varsity Game Stats — Potter County – Serving: 3 of 41/0 aces. Leaders: Ava Larson 11-11, Taylyn Rausch 10-10, Hitting: 58-71, 12 kills, Kayden Cronin 8, Zoe Meinke 4. Blocks: 6, Kayden Cronin 3, Taylyn Rausch 3. Sets: 58, Finlee Heiene 6. Digs: 33, Zoe Meinke 15.
Score by set:
PC 10 8 24
M 25 25 26
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