Valley VB Wins At LaVilleLAKEVILLE — Tippecanoe Valley never experienced a lead in its volleyball match at LaVille until 15 points into the second set.
The Vikings never seemed rattled by the circumstance, either.
Maybe it had something to do with the almost Tom Landry-esque demeanor along the sideline of their head coach, Mallory Eaton.
Valley stormed back to defeat the host Lancers 19-25, 25-21, 25-6, 25-18 for its 11th victory in its last 12 outings Tuesday night at Dale Cox Gymnasium.
“I really try hard there,” Eaton said of her steady disposition. “I’m a big believer that players mimic their coaches, so even if it’s a bad call or something I don’t like, I really try hard to keep my cool. I don’t want something out of our control to control the whole game, and I want my players calm, too.”
Makenzie Woodcox cranked for 25 kills — her fifth straight match with at least 21 — and fellow senior Amy Baca added a dozen as the Vikings improved to 12-2.
Each blended powerhouse winners with creative ones.
“Those two are just phenomenal athletes and great kids,” Eaton said. “They take a lot of swings and are our offensive heavyweights. They work incredibly hard to make themselves get open. They’re a huge part offensively, as well as defensively. They work their tails off and know that’s their job. They need to carry the team in that way.”
Lately surging LaVille (8-11), which had a three-match winning streak snapped, suffered a major setback when junior setter Sydney Coblentz was sidelined for the rest of the evening by a shoulder injury with her team down 21-19 in the second set.
Valley closed out a four-point set win to square the match at 1-1, then cruised to the 25-6 victory in the third set.
The Lancers recovered some in the decisive set, getting as close at 22-18 after trailing 18-11, but the wealth-spreading Vikings finished with the final three points on a Baca kill, a Brayden Baney ace and a Hayley Backus tap kill.
“She’s got a little bit of tingling,” LaVille coach Pat Whiteman-Gring said of Coblentz. “We’ll see how she is tomorrow, but we do have seven days til our next (match, Tuesday at Caston), so she’ll have some recovery time. I’m hopeful that she’ll be good to go. She’s fast, a strong setter and keeps a high energy for us.”
Eaton sympathized with the Lancers’ plight, to a point.
“(Coblentz is) an excellent player, and they did get a little jumbled without her,” the Valley coach said. “It was unfortunate, but we had to take advantage.”
Eaton said her team improved at “picking apart LaVille’s defense” as the match progressed, “and we started stretching the court, making them play the (corners) that they didn’t want to play. Once we got them to come out of their regular defense, it opened up the floor.”
The Vikings’ 12-2 record this season comes on the heels of going 18-16 last year, and then losing nine seniors, including the leader in every statistical category but one.
“We do have four seniors this year, but we’re still a young team and do have some lapses,” said
Eaton, whose club has given up at least one set in half of its 12 wins, “but I think this team also has players very comfortable in their roles. Kids are happy with ‘this is my job and if I do my job, we got a chance to get the W.’ They’ve bought into what they need to do.”
Hannah Engstrand delivered 46 assists to Tuesday’s victory. Fellow junior Delaney Wagoner made 17 digs, while senior Alli Miller notched three aces and sophomore Bree Sheetz got in on a pair of blocks.
Junior Rebekah Beehler and sophomore Olivia Goze led a balanced Lancer attack with six kills apiece, while junior serving standout Allison Medors picked up three aces.
Valley visits Manchester on Thursday, then hosts a three-day Saturday morning.
The Lancers nipped the Vikings 25-24, 22-25, 15-13 in Tuesday’s junior varsity contest.
