Cougars take down Eagles

Richardson's spikes gives volleyball team win in five games

Friday, Oct. 30, 2009

North Point took Game 1, 25-20, only to see Thomas Stone captured the two games to one lead with wins in Games 2 and 3, 26-24 and 25-15. The Eagles reached down deep to take Game 4 with a 25-18 win, forcing a pivotal Game 5.

Thomas Stone won Game 5 with an unreturnable spike from starter Ayonna Richardson on match point, giving it a 15-9 win and the match.

"It was senior night and I really wanted us girls to win," Richardson said. "and for the seniors to shine and they really did. We had a lot of fun and really worked as a team tonight. I hope we make it to the championships in [the regional playoffs]. … We have the skill and the power, we just need to work as a team."

Game 5 was knotted at 6 as Thomas Stone senior Kayla Gray came in to serve. She served four straight points to take the Cougars to a 10-6 lead.

Gray dove to return a spike, but missed, bringing the Eagles to within three. Stone's Kaylynn Balleaux's powerful spike went untamed, landing out of bounds, giving the visitors another point.

Gray bounced back for the Cougars with a spike too hard to handle as it fell between North Point's Alexis Gayon and Jade Dyson. With the score at 12-8, the Cougars just needed three more points to win the match.

Richardson couldn't block Dyson's spike, but she answered back with a spike of her own and junior Vicky Mance dove but it was just outside her reach.

With the score at 13-9, Stone captain Christin Waltersdorff planted a lightly touched ball over the net and Kaylah Bovard couldn't return it, setting up match point. Senior Kaitlyn Keyser saved the ball with a dig and Richardson's spike landed deep in the Eagles corner to give the Cougars the game and match victories.

"Not giving up [was the key to winning]," Thomas Stone third-year head coach Doug Otten said. His Cougars went to 9-5, 7-5 SMAC after the win. "I told them, ‘We're on our home court and it's senior night, you've got to dig deep.' They've got to have more desire, hard work and keep on moving their feet out there. I keep telling them to communicate and move their feet."

North Point (5-7, 5-7) took the early lead in Game 1 and the Cougars battled back to tie the game at 8 with help from Gray's digs. Bovard was aggressive for the Eagles with her untouchable spikes and soon the Eagles were looking at a 13-8 lead.

The Cougars closed to within 19-17, but no closer as the Eagles won Game 1 by five.

"We came out really well the first game," North Point head coach Karen Steele said. "We made some silly errors in the second game that we shouldn't have made and in game four they reconciled some of those errors and then in game five they just got a couple points down and we fell flat and made some more errors and things compounded."

"We tried to push our underclassmen to kind of help us out," Gray said.

Games 2 and 3 went to the Cougars as Marlea Hayes made her presence known with solid defense. Game 2 was knotted at 13, 21 and 24. Stone had game point at 25-24 when the ball slipped through Gayon's fingertips, falling out of bounds, giving the Cougars the game win.

Stone dominated through Game 3 with the combination of Gray, Waltersdorff and Lindsey Thurman, putting the Eagles on the defensive as the hosts led 14-9, then 21-14 before winning the game by 10 points. Game point came from Gray as her soft delivery fell to the floor.

"I definitely think we're going to have to come together as a team," Waltersdorff said. "That's been one of the points that hasn't been strong for us, but thankfully in this last match we really pulled together and moved past our errors. We need to be more aggressive at the net and pick up the momentum and pick up some of the easy ones."

The Eagles fought back to win Game 4 with libero Taryn Lowery's spikes and Gayon at the net. Bovard's serves were powerful, but uncontrolled at times and Kristin Baione controlled the ball well.

The Cougars came from a five-point deficit to tie the game at 13 with the serving style of Hayes. Later, the Eagles started a seven-point run to take the Game 4 win, forcing Game 5.

tshowalter@somdnews.com