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Facing off against potential sectional opponent NorthWood at the Pit on Wednesday night, the Tippecanoe Valley volleyball team took to the road to try and earn a nonconference win. Instead, it was the Lady Panthers who defended home court with a 3-0 victory.
The Lady Vikings found themselves in a hole early on as the Lady Panthers began the game by winning six of the game’s first eight points. The run continued afterwards and with the team now trailing 8-2, Valley was forced to call a quick timeout to deal with the blitz they had just been met by.
Following the break, the Lady Vikings seemed a bit more level headed and began to chip away at the deficit. An extended run allowed the team to get within four at 11-7 to tighten things up drastically.
Following this though, NorthWood kicked it back into gear and went on a long run of its own. After absorbing the Lady Vikings run, the Lady Panthers responded by growing their lead to nine, the largest of the game so far. Valley kept on fighting, with Kinley Crabb doing some nice work up front to come away with some big kills and blocks to keep the game alive.
That consistent play up front allowed the visitors to go on another run, shrinking the lead down to five this time. Despite this, it was now pretty late in the set and that play needed to continue for Valley to steal a win. The defense of the Lady Vikings continued to shine, with Betty Shepherd adding another emphatic block to her team’s total. The momentum continued to remain on the side of the visitors, forcing NorthWood to call for time leading 23-21.
Following the break, the home team was able to finish the job and secure a 25-21 victory in the first set. Despite the early loss, the Lady Vikings had proven they had come to play.
The beginning of the first set played out extremely similarly to the first, as NorthWood was able to seize the early momentum and jump out to an early lead. While it wasn’t as extreme in the first game, the Lady Panthers still led by seven after the first 15 points of the set.
This time though, there was not an extended run by the visitors following the break that allowed Valley to get back within striking distance. Instead, the Lady Panthers continued to dominate the game, extending their lead to double digits late in the set.
With a large lead in hand and this one never really in doubt, NorthWood was able to cruise to a commanding 25-13 win in the second set to take a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
Valley junior Hadley Wise goes up to block the kill attempt of NorthWood's Eden Wiggins as Gaby Gonzalez looks on from behind...Nieter
Looking to stay alive and play a fourth set, the Lady Vikings put together their best start yet in the third. Instead of going down big early, the visitors were able to hang around with the home team, keeping things tied up and occasionally taking a brief lead of their own for the first time in the match.
Eventually, NorthWood would figure it out and begin to open things up again. Valley did its best to stick around, but was forced to call a timeout trailing 10 after a 5-0 run by the home team.
Afterwards, the Lady Panthers remained in control of the contest. The Lady Vikings were able to get into striking distance a couple of times during this stretch of play, but they didn’t have any long term solutions for a NorthWood team that was suddenly up by nine and closing in on a victory.
But Valley wouldn’t go away quietly. When it seemed that the game was getting away from them, the team responded with seven straight points to cut the Lady Panther lead to just two. NorthWood followed this run up by calling timeout, regaining composure and answering with a run of their own to make it a seven-point game now with just three points to go.
Following the break, NorthWood got the three points it needed to finish off a 25-17 win to take the match.
Tippecanoe Valley (5-8) will take on Knox Thursday.
