By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

ARCANUM — In a match where everyone thought it would be a close one, the Arcanum Lady Trojans defended their home court and remained undefeated as they won 3-1 over Tri-Village on September 12.

Arcanum head coach Jacie Holman said she talks to her team about how the rest of the league is gunning for them after winning the conference last season. This was a prime example of them getting a tough match against a really good WOAC opponent.

“I talk to my girls a lot about when you’re on top of the league, there’s teams like Tri-Village, Mississinawa Valley and Franklin Monroe who are going to come at you every single game. Any team in the conference is going to want to knock us off. That’s exactly what they were doing. Tri-Village, I give them a lot of credit. They gave us a good run for our money tonight,” Holman said.

Arcanum took the first set 25-17. Just when the Lady Trojans were growing their lead, the Lady Patriots fought back to close the gap.

Both teams were fighting to keep the ball alive and give themselves a chance at the point. The power hitting from Arcanum won this round for them. Seniors Kenzie Byrne and Alexis Gibbons were firing balls to the open spots to help the Lady Trojans take set one.

Then in the second set, Arcanum had to fight back from behind. Tri-Village head coach Taylor Rawlings said after that first set lost, she talked to her team about stepping up in a rivalry game. The team did that and played their most consistent set.

“We know it’s a rival. You want to come out and win that. Looking forward to those other three sets, we lost that consistency. When we had that consistency, it showed. We won,” Rawlings said.

The Lady Patriots started out playing clean volleyball and building a lead. Hitters like senior Lauren Porter and sophomore Gabby Kirby stepped up and were getting balls past the Arcanum defense.

It was a common theme for both teams to not panic when the other made a run. Arcanum cut down the lead and only trailed by a point, 16-17. Tri-Village continued to play their game and won the second set 25-22.

Holman said there are times where the mental toughness of the team drops off a little bit. In this case, the team wasn’t prepared enough for the Lady Patriots to fight back.

“There’s times where we do experience mental toughness and there’s other times where we kind of fall apart. That’s where it was. We expected after a good, solid first win we thought we could win again on the second set. Clearly, that wasn’t the case,” Holman said.

This time around, the Lady Patriots struggled to start the third set as the Lady Trojans raced out to an 8-3 lead. Then Tri-Village buckled down and started to fight their way back into the game.

It was a battle of the undersized middle blockers in this match. Holman said junior Caroline Long is a force in the middle with her power hitting and her hitting IQ. Rawlings said sophomore Kenna Wilcox has the grit and determination to compete and play well in the middle.

Holman said during that third set, she told her team that if they wanted to win another conference title and go to districts they had to start by winning this set. With that determination, the team went on a 6-3 run to close out the third set and win it 25-19.

The fourth set was almost a repeat of the third set. Tri-Village started slow then kicked it into high gear to get close to Arcanum.

The Arcanum serve vs the Tri-Village serve receive was a battle all match long. Holman said Gibbons is a nasty server who can hit her zone effectively. For Tri-Village, sophomore Mylee Bierly was flying around the back line doing a great job keeping the ball off the floor.

Each player that stepped out onto the court for both teams gave it their best effort in a match where momentum was constantly swinging.

Rawlings said she was proud of her team for putting up a fight against a tough group of hitters.But, the hitters won this set again as Arcanum took the fourth and final set, 25-18.

The experience gap between the two teams played a role in the outcome. Arcanum has enough players back from their WOAC championship team that know how to battle through these games. For Tri-Village, they have a lot of inexperience at the varsity level.

Rawlings said the team is getting better each day. They need these match experiences to continue to grow.

“For us, it’s gaining that consistency. Gaining that experience cause right now, we’re young. At one point, those last five points of that match, I had six sophomores on the court,” Rawlings said.

Holman said for them to accomplish their goals and to keep rolling like they are right now, they have to stay disciplined each game. She wants the team entering each game expecting to compete their way to a win.

“If we come in on an off night, we got to be prepared that we got to work harder. We are going to be disciplined in practice and disciplined every single set. We can not anticipate just to walk with any win. That anybody can take us down,” Holman said.

Arcanum is now 9-0 with a 5-0 WOAC record. They will be at Houston on September 14 for a 10 a.m. start. Tri-Village is now 5-5 with a 3-2 WOAC record. They will host Marion Local on September 14 at 11 a.m.

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