By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

ARCANUM — For the second year in a row, the Arcanum Lady Trojans volleyball team didn’t drop a set on their way to winning the Greenville Federal Invitational. Arcanum defeated Mississinawa Valley, 2-0, in the championship game on August 24 at Franklin Monroe High School.

Arcanum head coach Jacie Holman said this win sets the tone for what the team wants to accomplish this season. Even after graduating a special senior class, the Lady Trojans want to prove they are still a WOAC contender.

“We talked about, as a team, that we weren’t a one year and done kind of situation. We have a lot to prove to everyone this year. We wanted to come back and fight for the Greenville Federal Invite and defend that. We want to come back and defend our conference championship as well,” Holman said.

Even with seven players on the team, the Lady Blackhawks had 2-0 wins over Newton and Tri-Village to earn their spot in the final game. Mississinawa Valley head coach Nancy Whitted said the team fought through some deficits and kept the energy high during their first two games. Against Arcanum, they couldn’t overcome some mistakes.

“We did really well the first couple of games. Impressed with their energy those first two games. Even if they got down a couple points, they brought themselves back up. They just couldn’t do it this. They beat themselves this time,” Whitted said.

The Lady Trojans won both sets in the final game, 25-12 and 25-13. Arcanum outscored Mississinawa Valley 12-3 after a Mississinawa Valley timeout in the second set to secure the win.

Holman said this sophomore class was ready to step up in the roles that were left open from last year’s seniors. Players like Cameron Garbig, Matty Noe and Ella Flatter stepped into roles left by All-WOAC players.

The Lady Trojans faced their fair share of adversity during the tournament. They were times they were down or the other team was making a small run. Arcanum didn’t flinch and kept working to regain the lead and grab the win.

Holman said the team didn’t have a lot of time practicing together due to some offseason injuries. It makes it that much more impressive everyone remained on the same page when things got tough.

“You would not know this when you watch us, our first practice that we have been healthy was Wednesday. We’ve not had a lot of time to play together. That kind of takes that into perspective,” Holman said. “I’m overall happy with how we played and continuing to fight. Letting us have control over the game versus our competitors.”

The Lady Blackhawks showed their early season growth by finishing as the runner-up in the tournament. Whitted said everyone has improved since the start of practices. She also said her setter, junior Danika Neargarder, has showed immense improvement from last year.

“Their hitting has improved tremendously. We have some really good form hitters. Our serving has really improved as well,” Whitted said. “They serve for a purpose now instead of trying to just get it over.”

The host school, Franklin Monroe, took third place in the event. They defeated Tri-Village, 2-0, to earn third place. The Lady Jets started the day with a 2-0 win over Ansonia then lost 2-0 in an energetic match against Arcanum.

Tri-Village finished in fourth place. The Lady Patriots started their day with a 2-1 win over Greenville. That game was the only game to go the full three sets in the tournament. They then fell to Mississinawa Valley and Franklin Monroe.

Newton finished in fifth place and won the consolation bracket. They lost 2-0 to Mississinawa Valley then swept Greenville and Ansonia.

Ansonia took sixth place with the loss to Newton. The Lady Tigers lost 2-0 to Franklin Monroe then defeated Bradford 2-0 for a chance to win the consolation bracket.

Greenville took seventh place after they lost their first two games, 2-1 to Tri-Village and 2-0 to Newton. They defeated Bradford 2-0 in their final game. Bradford finished in eighth with the loss to Greenville.

Photos and highlights from the tournament can be found on our Facebook page, The Daily Advocate.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected].