Eddie Mowen Jr. | The Register-Herald
NEW PARIS — When Twin Valley South and National Trail met on the volleyball court Tuesday (Sept. 17) both were coming from different directions.
South was coming off a thrilling five-set win over Valley View from the previous night, while Trail entered the match with a disappointing five-set loss to Middletown Madison.
When all was said and done it was the Panthers coming away with their second straight win – this time in four sets.
With victories over Valley View on Monday and National Trail on Tuesday, the Lady Panthers improved to 3-2 in conference play and 8-5 overall.
“We definitely needed the win,” South coach Mary Johnson said. “The girls came out ready to fight for this one. I think they were still exhausted from last night’s game. Definitely came out a little bit slow. Last night we went to five. (with Valley View). It was little tough getting used to the slick floor. The low ceiling kind of played a little part in our first set.”
In the 25-21, 25-14, 20-25, 25-15 conference win over National Trail, the Lady Panthers were led by Clara Meyers with 15 kills, 37 set attempts, one assist, 20 total service points, three service aces, and 11 digs. Nevaeh Caldwell had four kills, 19 set attempts, one assist, nine total service points, and three digs.
Danika Caldwell had three kills, 17 set attempts, eight assists, 11 total service points, two service aces, and 12 digs. Brylii Day had three kills, 15 set attempts, 10 total service aces, two service aces, four digs, and two blocks. Lainey Mercer had three kills, 16 set attempts, two total service points, and four digs.
Mya Hundley had one kill, two set attempts, 10 total service points, two service aces, and eight digs. Jayce Mowell had two kills, 12 set attempts, 16 assists, 18 total service points, three service aces, 11 digs, and one block. Emilee Zinn had nine digs and Claire Wharton had six digs.
“The girls were pumped,” Johnson said of the win over their county and WOAC rival. “They knew that they had a chance coming into tonight. They wanted to come in and win this one because they one, wanted to one beat our goal of improving our record from last year. But then also, coming in and playing the game that they know how to play, and coming out strong. So, it took them a little bit to get in the groove, but we finally got there.”
Johnson said her group is starting to gel as a team.
“They’re learning how to play as a team. One of the biggest things I’ve seen with them from the start to now is figuring out how to work together,” Johnson said. “There’s not one star out there on the team. Every single one of them plays a very important role in carrying us to where we are right now. And it’s important that they all see that it takes all of them to get us there. I’m excited for where we are headed.”
For Trail coach Jackie Barnes it was a second straight night of disappointment.
“I was pleased that we were able to come back and get game three. Last night we lost a hard five set match, and we were kind of down,” she said. “So I thought maybe we’d start out a little stronger. They were tight games, but we can’t let those slip away, even if it is a three- or four-point game, those are the ones you have to win. So, when we came back for game three, I was like, okay, good, great. We’ve got that fight, we’ve got that umph, we’ve got that energy. And it seemed like tonight compared to a couple weeks ago, our confidence wasn’t there to fight through that adversity.”
Barnes said the effects of Monday’s loss may have played a role.
“I think we let last night, being tired, and the dejection of that kind of weigh on us,” Barnes said. “We started slow compared to, yeah, if you come in off a win, off of that, even if you are tired, you can take that as all right, we got this. We can fight through anything.”
Haydn Davies had 37 digs. Kyleigh Ray led the way with eight kills, while Miranda Ott added seven, Kaitlyn Schweizer had six and Evie Hoffman contributed five.
With the loss, Trail falls to 3-11overall and 2-5 in the WOAC.
National Trail was scheduled to play at Arcanum on Thursday, Sept. 19 and will host Preble Shawnee on Monday, Sept. 23 and Tri-Village on Tuesday, Sept. 24.
Twin Valley South was scheduled to play Mississinawa Valley Thursday, Sept. 19. The Panthers will travel to Carlisle on Monday, Sept. 23 and play at Preble Shawnee on Tuesday.
Reach Eddie Mowen Jr. at 937-683-4061 and follow on X @emowenjr.
