By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

GREENVILLE — The Lady Wave volleyball team celebrated senior night and their last home game of the season with a 3-0 sweep over Piqua on Oct. 8.

Head coach Michelle Hardesty said she is proud of her team for fighting the last two sets after Piqua started battle and make the last two sets close. After winning the first set with ease, the Lady Wave responded to earn this convincing win.

“We’re trying to get ready for the postseason. We know we have to put today’s events first and the team, the seniors, wanted to win this game. We didn’t play the best against Piqua the first time around. We went 5-1, but tonight the girls showed what they were made of,” Hardesty said.

The Lady Wave got off to a fast start in the first set and kept Piqua on their heels. The hitting from Greenville was overwhelming the Piqua defense as they got out of system. With everyone on the team contributing, the Lady Wave came away with a 25-12 first set win.

Then the next two sets were close. In both sets, leads changed quickly as no team was willing to give up the slightest bit of momentum in the second and third sets.

In both sets, Greenville started to get a lead before Piqua fought back to threaten a comeback. In the second set, Greenville led 21-19 late as Piqua was getting into a groove. The Lady Wave locked in and won the second set, 25-21, with some strong serving from the team.

Then in the third set, some hitting errors allowed Piqua to hang around late in the set. But after a Piqua timeout with Greenville leading 22-17, the Lady Wave kept up their momentum to close out the third set 25-18.

On a night honoring them, the seniors came through huge for the Lady Wave. Laci Shepherd, Brooke Schmidt and Olivia Flatter all played a solid game in front of the net. They were all hitting with power and getting their hands on the Piqua attack attempts.

Then in the back row in her libero spot, Shyanne Gibboney didn’t let many attacks or serves by her. Then from the serving line, she was able to spark some runs for Greenville. Gibboney also celebrated surpassing 1,000 career digs in a match against Troy on Sept. 19.

Hardesty said this senior class is a group of resilient young ladies that have a strong future ahead of them.

“This senior class made a huge impact on this program from the day they walked into this gym as freshmen. They worked hard, they wanted to learn, they did things outside of season to get better and it showed. The impact they made on this program is going to be lasting,” Hardesty said.

Greenville will play their last regular season game at Sidney on Oct. 10 at 7 p.m. They will then start tournament play on Oct. 19 at 11 a.m. at Fairborn High School. As the fifth seed, they will take on 14th seed Tecumseh in Division III.

At tournament draw, the top four teams in their sectional passed on choosing their spot first. Hardesty said they didn’t expect that and went ahead with choosing their slot.

As the process unfolded, undefeated one seed Tippecanoe joined their bracket. A win over Tecumseh sets up a third match against Tippecanoe. Hardesty said the team has set their goals for the postseason and they are ready to accomplish them.

“We’re excited about that. Unfortunately, Tippecanoe jumped into our bracket when they got that chance. But I’m excited about that. We’re playing really well right now. We get another opportunity to beat them, something these girls haven’t done in four years. We’re looking forward to that. But, we have to win the first one first,” Hardesty said.

Tippecanoe swept the Lady Wave twice, once at Tippecanoe to start the season on Aug. 20 and then at Greenville on Sept. 16.

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