Lady Indians defeat Blackbirds

Expositor Editor

PETTISVILLE - Desptie being the first team to 20 points in two of the first three games, the Pettisville Blackbirds (1-2) fell in non-league action with neighboring Wauseon (1-0); 23-25, 24-26, 25-12, 11-25.

In the second game it appeared the Blackbirds would even the set at one game each. However, the Indians battled back and seemingly gained some big momentum.

Chelsea Schmucker scored a point on a nice kill for Pettisville to give them a 23-20 lead and, after both teams gave up points on serving, the Blackbirds led 24-21.

Kara Hammons and Hannah Storrer each scored on hits to start the Indian comeback. Trying to regroup, Pettisville coach John Horning called a timeout with a narrowing 24-23 lead on the scoreboard.

After a Pettisville missed hit tied the game at 24-24, Alexis Pierce got a big kill to give the Indians a 25-24 margin. She followed up with the game winner as she put back a Pettisville set at the net to take the game two win.

However, the momentum built in the second game quickly shifted in the third as Pettisville took a 7-5 lead on consecutive aces by 7 and quickly moved on to a 19-8 lead. Stephanie Yoder scored off a hard hit and two plays later it appeared Pierce would score off a hard hit ball. She was denied her point as Schmucker dove for the ball which sailed over the net and landed in play giving Pettisville a 9-6 lead.

An ace by Katie Weber gave the Birds a 15-7 margin which was quickly extended to an 18-7 lead. Haley Nofziger forced a fourth game with kill off a well-executed quick set play.

The Blackbirds kept it close early in the fourth game knotting the game at 5-5 on a kill by Yoder. The Indians answered with points scored by Sarah Garvin and Brittany Gibson to start a 6-0 Wauseon run. The Indians extended the lead to 21-8 on a kill by Gibson. Pierce would get three kills down the stretch to take the deciding 25-11 game four win for Wauseon.

The first game saw the Indians jump out to a 4-1 lead before Pettisville took their first lead of the night (5-4) from a 5 kill. Wauseon was able to get a 21-18 lead late in the game off an Amy Porter ace.

The Blackbirds battled back as Karina Rohrer-Meck scored a hit and then Wauseon gave up two poitns on unforced errors to knot the first game at 21-21. Pettisville went up 23-22 after a Wauseon hit sailed out of bounds. A Porter hit and and Pettisville block out of bounds put the Indians up 24-23.

With the game on the line, Hammons got a huge dig to keep the ball in play and Gibson took a solid set and put the ball in play for the game winning point.

Stats

Pettisville: Bontrager- 6-6 serving, 16-19 reception, 4-4 passing, 2 digs; Yoder- 12-13 serving, 7-7 passing, 26-30 setting; Weber- 14-15 serving, 9-14 reception, 7-7 passing, 7 digs, 15-18 hitting, 8 kills; Schmucker- 9-11 serving, 7-11 reception, 7-7 passing, 13 digs, 17-22 hitting, 9 kills; H. Nofziger- 19-19 serving, 16-18 reception, 11-11 passing, 5 digs, 15-24 hitting, 7 kills; M. Nofziger- 1-1 serving, 1-1 passing; Eicher- 1-3 reception, 2-2 passing; Rohrer-Meck- 13-14 serving, 9-10 reception, 10-10 passing, 56-61 setting, 7-9 hitting, 4 kills; Geringer- 2-2 reception, 1-1 seting, 1 kill.

Wauseon: No stats reported.