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Bree
Bates (21) and another Bradford player team up to
block a kill attempt by Mississinawa Valley's
Heather Dirksen (12)
during the teams Cross County Conference battle. The Roaders won the
match in four and
improved to 6-12 on the season. The loss brought the
Blackhawks to 9-10 on the year. CNO Photo by
George Starks
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Hawks declawed by Bradford
Roaders win in four
By George Starks
UNION CITY OH - At the end of the opening game between Bradford and
Mississinawa Valley Tuesday, Hawks coach Billie Hunt was past angry.
She was livid!
In a back and forth nail biter, the Lady Roaders pulled out a tough
25-23 victory over the Blackhawks, taking a 1-0 lead in the best of
five games.
“I was livid and that’s being kind,” said Hunt. “There was no reason we
should have lost that game.”
Whatever Hunt said to her girls must have lit a fire under them as MV
won the second game 25-22.
Then things got interesting for Bradford coach Jamie Hocker.
In a game that saw more lead changes than Carter’s got liver pills,
Hocker’s heart was racing.
“My heart is thumping. I’m about ready to have a heart attack,” said
Hocker. “I don’t like games like that.”
The third game saw the Roaders and Hawks go back and forth as Bradford
pulled out a 28-26 victory, taking a 2-1 lead in the match.
With three nail biting games in the books; the final game seemed like a
breeze for Bradford as the Roaders rolled to a 25-13 victory and a 3-1
CCC victory.
So what happened between games three and four?
“I think the girls knew they could do this and they wanted this match
win,” said Hocker. “For some reason, we cannot win a game in three.
We’ve not won a match in three games this year. It’s either been four
or five games.”
According to Hocker, this is the norm for her team.
“It always seems we have those nail biters,” said the Bradford coach.
“It always seems to come down to one or two points when we do get beat.”
Two elements played big for Bradford in the victory.
Net play and serve-receive.
“Haley Patty really shined tonight,” said Hocker. “Tonight she
controlled her swing and kept her hand open. Serve receive looked good
tonight. We’ve been playing timid lately, but not tonight. When we play
timid, we always fail. We were aggressive and we have to stay that way.”
As for Hunt, there was not a lot to say as the Hawks dropped to 9-10 on
the season as she watched her team have a complete meltdown.
“I have no idea where it came from,” said Hunt. “This was the best
volleyball we’ve played in the past week and it went. I was livid after
the first game and we looked good after that. We had a game four
meltdown and it hurt us. We are a hitting team and we put several in
the net.”
Hunt gave credit where credit is due.
“Bradford is a scrappy team and they wanted this match tonight,” Hunt
admitted. “They were all over the court and they had answers for
everything we did. I told my girls we have to be motivated like
Bradford was and we weren't."
Madison Livingston and Mackenzie Dirmeyer had nine kills each for the
Hawks while Paige Neargarder added 12 assists. Heather Dirksen chipped
in with 22 digs in the losing effort for Mississinawa Valley.
There were no stats to reports for the Railroaders.
Mississinawa Valley
Stats
Tori Humphries - 3 aces, 16 assists, 9 digs
Paige Neargarder - 12 assists
Madison Livingston - 9 kills, 5 blocks
Mackenzie Dirmeyer - 9 kills, 3 blocks, 2 aces
Nicole Scholl - 6 kills
Heather Dirksen - 22 digs
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