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Versailles
senior Olivia Schlater returns a serve against Miami East
Wednesday at Trent Arena in
Kettering. The Tigers popped Miami East in
three games to advance to the regional final
and a chance to go to the
states final four. CNO Photos by George Starks
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Versailles
stops Miami East in three
Tigers head to
regional finals
By George Starks
KETTERING- The storyline was simple in the D-III regional semi-finals
between Versailles and Miami East Wednesday.
Miami East came in as the two-time defending state champion, looking to
make it three in a row.
Versailles’ goal was to stop them and move on.
Give the nod to the Tigers.
Ranked third in the state, Versailles showed its opponents exactly why
they hold that ranking as the Tigers rolled to a three game victory
over the Vikings, 25-13, 25-19, 25-21.
After Versailles made it look easy in the opener, it was the Vikings
that applied the heat in the final two games, making Versailles earn
the right to move on.
“They made us work for it at the end of the second game and the third
one,” said Versailles coach Karla Frilling. “They (M.E.) came on strong
at the end of game two and they carried it over into game three. This
is a very well coached and they are a good team.”
With Versailles holding a 21-13 advantage in game two, the Vikings put
on a surge, closing to a 24-19 count before the Tigers were able to
break the serve of senior Allison Morett and get the second game
victory.
Game three found the going tough for Versailles as once again, the
Tigers had built a 16-11 lead only to see the Vikings battle back and
close to a 17-16 count, as East went on a 5-1 scoring spurt.
After a Versailles timeout, the Tigers were able to break the Vikings
serve and gain a 20-16 lead.
Miami East would not roll over for the battle tested MAC team, closing
to 23-20 late.
It seemed the Vikings knew how to get and keep the momentum but in the
end, it was Versailles that held the advantage.
“They picked apart our defense,” said Frilling. “They found lines that
we were just one step off of and we shouldn’t have been. They made us
work hard and they made us think and make adjustments on our side. We
held on and were able to finish things out. We finished on their error
which you always want to hammer one home to seal the deal.”
In the opening two games, the Tigers attacked the net with aggression
and winning by a dozen in the opener was the payoff for Versailles.
“We have the attackers to do what needs to be done at the net and that
was the game plan,” Frilling stated. “We have the blockers and the
height to do so and that’s what we’re going to keep doing.”
While the Vikings were able to find holes at times in the Versailles
defense, it was the Tigers that covered in the back of the floor.
“The one other thing we worked on was the fact that we knew they were
going to move the ball around on us,” Frilling pointed out. “We have
holes in our defense as done everyone else. We cover one girl in the
deep court and we have two girls that have a lot of ground to cover in
the short court. We knew we were going to have to take up more ground
and we did that. I think our coverage was good and I’m pleased with it.”
Since the beginning of the tournament, Versailles has yet to be pushed,
never losing a game from the start of the sectionals.
Saturday at 2 pm, the Tigers will go up against the number one team in
the state, Sparta Highland for the right to play at the Nutter Center
for a state Title.
The Lady Scots are undefeated on the season.
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Senior Amanda Winner
unloads a serve against the Vikings
Wednesday in the Tigers regional semi-final match.
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