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Mississinawa
Valley junior Kasey Hummel (5) and sophomore Kelsie Hunt
(15) look to block a kill attempt by Bradford
senior Marissa Murphy
Thursday during their Cross County Conference match. The Lady Hawks won
in three, 25-12,
25-18 and 25-18 on Bradford's senior night. CNO Photos
by Don Selanders, goroaders.com
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Hawks win in
three over Bradford
Match ends in controversy
By George Starks
BRADFORD- No matter what the sport, every coach wants to win.
No coach wants to win on a controversial call.
With the Bradford Lady Railroaders down 2-0 to Mississinawa Valley and
trailing 24-18 in the final set, Bradford coach Jamie Hocker did what
any coach would want to do on senior night.
Let the seniors finish on the floor together.
Before the match had started Thursday, Hocker asked the officials if
putting the seniors in at the end of the night would be okay?
She was told she could and with one point left to decide the match,
Hocker sent her seniors in to play the final point.
Enter the controversy.
Hocker was told it was an illegal substitution and she would have to
side out to the Hawks and forfeit the point, giving the Hawks a 25-18
win and the match win, 3-0.
An emotional Hocker had no comment after the senior night loss but her
MV counterpart, Billie Hunt, did.
“I saw no harm in playing the final point,” said Hunt. “I don’t think
it was going to make a difference in the outcome of the match and her
seniors would have shared that final moment.”
Winning in three was exactly what Hunt wanted to see in her team.
“I’m not too sure we’ve won a match in three games this year,” said
Hunt after the match. “We started to play well together this past
Tuesday and it carried over to tonight. I’m very happy with the way the
girls played tonight.”
From the first serve to the controversial call, the Hawks were in
control most of the time.
“We played like a team tonight,” said Hunt. “We passed the ball, we set
the ball and we hit well. The whole game came together. We moved and
got to the ball.”
Up 2-0 in the best of five match, the Hawks had one of their few
problems on the night.
Bradford jumped up 7-3 early and held the lead midway through the final
game, 15-12 before the Hawks put together a run.
Behind the serving of senior Paige Neargarder, the Hawks put up the
next five points to take a slim 17-16 lead.
When Mississinawa Valley got the lead, it kept it.
“We had the passion out there to mount the comeback,” said Hunt. “I’ve
seen this since the start on the season. We had our games when we were
down but when we were down, it was the whole game. If we get in a game
and lead before going down, we have the want to comeback. I know they
have it in them.”
Now 10-10, the Hawks will have their senior night Tuesday with Arcanum
while the Roaders, 3-18, will finish on the road at Franklin Monroe.
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Mississinawa
Valley senior Madison Livingston goes high on a
ball at the net for the Blackhawks.
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