SYRACUSE – In Tuesday’s volleyball match between Manchester and host Wawasee, it came down to who could put together some runs with their serve; something both teams have struggled with so far this season.
After the first set, Manchester had four runs of four points or more on serve, keying its 19-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-13 win over the Lady Warriors at the Hardwood Tepee.
Lady Squire head coach Melissa West said she made some lineup adjustments, but the big thing was putting into the matches what they talk about in practice.
“We’ve been talking in practice about when we get the ball, being able to push points and not just rally back and forth. I thought we did a good job of that tonight,” she said.
Manchester needed something good to happen after a rough week that included five losses.
“We lost two during the week and then three on Saturday, but we knew going into it we had a lot of other things happening,” West said. “We had starters taking SATs on Saturday, we had a starter (get injured) during the tournament, and we had a lot of pieces that weren’t there.
“So we kept telling the girls ‘just stick with it, and it’ll come together.’ And they did a nice job of sticking with it.”
For Wawasee, there were the familiar struggles with serves and serve reception. Coach Kayla Riptorella spent some time after the match focusing on the positive.
“Similar story, but better results tonight,” she said. “Offensively, we were a little bit smarter, my hitters did a great job putting the ball to the floor. I haven’t seen that much hunger in this team outside of practice this season, so that was amazing to see.
“Peyton Rookstool, my No. 1 junior, had one heck of a night offensively. Hannah Gaerte, my No. 2 outside, had a great game.”
Three times Wawasee had runs of three points or more, but then committed a serve error to end the run abruptly. On the other hand, the Lady Warriors went one-and-done with the serve, including in the last set with the score tied at 19. Manchester scored the last six points of the set to clinch the match.
“Serving is still one of our weaknesses right now, and keeping serve when it matters, and beating ourselves on serve receive. We have to minimize the damage.
“We’re getting there, making progress, but still coming up short.“
Emma West had 28 assists, 12 digs and two aces for Manchester. Kendra Auler had four aces, and Eva Bazzoni had eight kills. Wawasee did not provide statistics for the match.
Manchester won the junior varsity contest 21-25, 25-11, 15-14 over the Lady Warriors. Andrea Kahn and Kyrstyn Eakright had four kills each for the Lady Squires. Lydia Greer had 14 digs and four aces.
The Lady Warriors won the freshman match, 25-5, 25-15. Emma Dippon had seven kills for Wawasee, with Delaney Hare adding five aces. Kayleigh Godsey had six digs for Manchester in the match.
Wawasee fell to 1-8 overall and will open Northern Lakes Conference play Thursday, hosting Plymouth. Manchester (4-7) hosts Wabash in Three Rivers Conference play Thursday.
MANCHESTER 3, WAWASEE 1
M 19 25 25 25
W 25 18 19 13
Manchester: Aces – Kendra Auler 4, Kara Kline 3, Anna Osborne 3, Emma West 2, Sydney Day 1, Kiera Hatfield 1, Ali Sites 1; Kills – Eva Bazzoni 8, Osborne 7, Kline 6, Kennidy Lauer 6, Sydney Day 4, Auler 1, Zoey Ream 1; Assists – West 28, Osborne 2, Day 1, Bazzoni 1; Digs – West 12, Sites 10, Emma Casper 8, Kline 8, Day 7, Osborne 3, Lauer 3, Bazzoni 1, Ream 1, Auler 1.
