By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

UNION CITY — The Mississinawa Valley volleyball program hosted the Blackhawks Volleyball Invitational on September 7. Ansonia, Union City and Brookville competed in the round robin tournament.

Brookville won the invitational as they went 3-0 on the day. Mississinawa Valley went 2-1 with wins over Union City and Ansonia. Ansonia finished third as they defeated Union City.

Mississinawa Valley started the invite with a 2-1 loss to Brookville. That marked back to back losses for the Lady Blackhawks after they lost in three at Parkway on September 3.

Mississinawa Valley head coach Nancy Whitted said the team wasn’t too down on themselves after that Parkway loss, but going to three sets against Brookville gave them some energy for the rest of the day.

“They weren’t really that upset about losing to them (Parkway) because they know what good of a team they are. But it did make them feel good after going to three sets in that first game. And then to win the next two in two, got their spirits back up a little bit,” Whitted said.

Ansonia started the day with a 2-0 win over Union City. The Lady Tigers came into this season young in experience and were coming into this invite a bit wounded.

Ansonia head coach Lydia Schlarman said the team has dealt with some early season injuries which caused some girls to be in and out of the lineup. The team has done the best they can adjusting on the fly with the lineup changes. They are just searching for some more consistency.

“Consistency is a huge thing for us this season. We’ve had three girls hurt. Olivia Schmitmeyer, this is her first day back. She practiced two days. Just getting the girls back and used to having her is an adjustment itself,” Schlarman said. “We’re young when it comes to varsity experience. It’s just what it is. Losing eight seniors makes it hard. But overall, they played well today.”

Mississinawa Valley bounced back with a 2-0 win over Union City. The Lady Blackhawks found a rhythm after falling to Brookville. With the confidence up, they started to play like their normal selves.

“After that, they came out of their shells and played like they know how they can play,” Whitted said.

Ansonia fell to Brookville, 2-0, after their win over Union City. The Lady Tigers kept the energy up and made some great plays to stay in sets. But in the end, they couldn’t keep up with the Lady Blue Devils.

The inconsistency got to the Lady Tigers. Players old and new are adjusting to new positions to start the season. For example, Schlarman said their middle blockers were outside hitters last season. The team is competing well while in different roles.

But, the team has played well while making these adjustments. Schlarman gave credit to her coaching staff for helping make these moves easier on the players.

“Getting our setters used to setting them has been an adjustment. Adding to the coaching staff has been helping us with that adjustment. We have a good setting coach, a good hitting coach including myself. Overall, the girls are adjusting well. It’s just early in the season still,” Schlarman said.

Then it was Mississinawa Valley vs Ansonia to end the invitational. Mississinawa Valley kept up their great play and took set one, 25-16. The Lady Tigers hung around, but couldn’t keep up with the Mississinawa Valley hitting.

But the Lady Tigers came into the second set with high energy and led for most of the set. The defense was flying around and the hitters were hitting their spots.

Ansonia held their lead until the final stages of the second set. Like they have all season, Mississianwa Valley clawed back from the deficit and tied the game up at 16-16.

Whitted said even when the team is going through a rough stretch during a set, they always find a way to get back on track and get back into the set. It’s what the team does best.

“They don’t give up, which is something I really admire them for. They may have a string of errors, but they always seem to bring it back. They always seem to recover from that very well,” Whitted said.

Ansonia gained the lead back 19-17 for a brief time. The Lady Blackhawks continued to hit away until they tied the set at 20-20.

From there, Mississinawa Valley had the momentum on offense to pick up the kills needed to steal the second set, 25-20, and end the invitational on a win.

There was a lot of good things to take away from the day for Ansonia. The team was competitive for most of the day as they are still getting comfortable with the varsity game. They are now 4-5 on the season with a 2-1 WOAC record. They will be at Bradford on September 10 for a 5:30 p.m. JV start.

Mississinawa Valley is now 6-3 on the season with a 2-0 WOAC record. They will try to continue their great play as they host National Trail on September 10 at 5:30 p.m.

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