Junior Addie Marker (left) and junior Alyssa Schmitmeyer (right) go up to try and get a piece of the ball.
Drew Terhall | The Daily Advocate
Ansonia huddles in celebration after getting a block.
Drew Terhall | The Daily Advocate
By Drew Terhall
DailyAdvocate.com
ARCANUM — Ansonia High School volleyball could not pull off the upset to extend their season. The 13 seeded Lady Tigers lost to the sixth seed in Southeastern Local High School, 3-0, in the first round of the Southwest Division IV Sectional Tournament at Arcanum High School on Oct. 17.
Head Coach Darcy Buckingham said the slow start to the game hurt the team. They couldn’t get into rhythm to play their regular game.
“We could never get into a flow of our own game. We couldn’t keep our serve, we just didn’t have our runs that we normally have,” Buckingham said.
Ansonia struggled during the first set. Southeastern Local was in control throughout the set. They opened the set on a 5-0 run.
Like Buckingham said, the Lady Tigers couldn’t hold their serve and capitalize on Southeastern Local’s mistakes. Ansonia called a timeout down 6-13. From that point on, Southeastern Local ended the set on a 12-3 run. The Lady Trojans won the set 25-9.
The second and third set were more competitive. Ansonia was able to go on some short runs as they generated some more offense. In the second set, the set was tied at 19-19. The Lady Tigers were competing like they did to end the regular season.
However, they couldn’t get enough out of their defense and serve receive to snatch a set win. The Lady Trojans kept finding ways to open up the floor for them to get the kills. Southeastern Local won the second set, 25-20, and the third set, 25-18.
Ansonia ends their 2022 season with an overall record of 11-12. They ended the regular season with four straight wins to get to 11-11. Buckingham said she is happy with the season overall as they overcame a slow start to the season and showed growth as the season went along.
They will lose three seniors for next year. But with a majority of the team coming back and having a season to mesh together, Ansonia could see a better start to their 2023 campaign.
“We’ll have some holes to fill. But ultimately, being this young, we should have a strong start to the next season hopefully,” Buckingham said.
Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]
