|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
Sports
Close call : Sports : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisClose call
| Oswego girls' volleyball team forces Game 3, but falls to Plainfield Central
| by Christine Bolin Dascher
| 9/27/2012
|
The Oswego girls' volleyball team is still struggling to put together consistent and consecutive wins this year.
The Panthers dropped their second straight Southwest Prairie Conference game on Tuesday night after Plainfield Central came to Oswego and won, 19-25, 25-15, 30-28.
Oswego dropped to 9-12 overall and 2-5 in the conference.
"I just wish they would decide to start playing at the beginning of the match instead of halfway through it," Oswego head coach Erica Lorenz said. "That's something they need to individually find within themselves...we have 10 girls on the team. They should all be ready to play. This was a match we should have won."
The third and deciding game, which featured 12 ties, had an exciting ending. Plainfield Central never led by more than six points throughout, and one of Oswego's largest runs came toward the end.
With Plainfield Central leading 23-21, Oswego tallied three straight points - two of which came from Wildcat errors. The Panthers needed just one point to end the match, but instead hit the ball out of bounds and forced a 24-24 knot.
It would be tied four more times before Plainfield Central scored the final two points on an Elizabeth Hyland kill (one of five in the game, 15 in the match) and an Oswego hitting error.
"Every game we lost in the beginning of the season - Plainfield North, Plainfield South, Oswego East - we went to three, so it was nice to take it to three and push through in the end," Plainfield Central head coach Jessica Clark said. "We just had an exciting match against Metea (Valley) over the weekend that went to three, so they really know how to please the crowd."
Oswego looked promising in Game 1, as it got off to a 7-1 start behind the serving of junior defensive specialist Emily Prystash (18 digs) and kills from junior Jessica Johnson, junior Sarah Frantik (five kills, two blocks) and freshman Katelyn Burke (nine digs, eight assists, seven kills).
Even though the Panthers led the entire way, Plainfield Central came close to catching up late in the game, when it scored five straight points and reduced Oswego's lead to 19-18.
Oswego, however, tallied the next four points, including a pair of aces from Burke. A Panthers' net violation got in the way of them scoring the final six points. Kills from freshman Jordan Campbell (six kills, three blocks) and Johnson ended the game.
Game 2 was all Plainfield Central (8-13, 4-3), as it scored seven consecutive points behind the jump-serving of junior Hannah Evatt. After the run, the Wildcats led 15-5.
"They weren't going to recover from that," Lorenz said. "It was better we started fresh in the third game."
Oswego scored seven of the final 12 points of the game, but it ended on Plainfield Central's Jane Obradovich's kill.
Even though Oswego could not close this close match out, Lorenz knows her Panthers are still young - Jenny Greenwood is the only senior on the team.
"I really wish the other girls would play with the same amount of passion and want as she does when she's on the court," Lorenz said of Greenwood, who finished with five kills, four digs and two blocks. "She's a leader on the court."
Notes: Prior to Tuesday's match, Plainfield North beat Oswego, 25-16, 25-23, last Thursday on the road.
Greenwood (seven kills, six aces, six blocks, one dig), Burke (four kills, one ace, six digs, four assists) and Prystash (nine digs, two aces) led the Panthers.
At Waubonsie Valley on Saturday, the Panthers went 1-4 with the only win against Bolingbrook, 9-25, 25-21, 25-18.
Downers Grove North (25-21, 25-17), Waubonsie Valley (25-19, 25-22), Rockford Guilford (25-18, 25-22) and Lincoln-Way North (25-8, 25-17) all beat the Panthers.
Burke (33 digs, 15 kills), Greenwood (20 digs, 11 kills), Johnson (53 assists, 19 digs, eight kills), Prystash (48 digs, five aces) and Campbell (12 blocks, 11 kills) led Oswego.
Downers Grove North won the tournament title after beating Batavia in two. St. Ignatius placed third after topping Waubonsie Valley in two. Rosary beat Neuqua Valley for fifth place.
"I would have liked to have done better," Lorenz said. "I was thinking maybe 3-2. We had to make some adjustments over the weekend."
Oswego hosts Romeoville today, Thursday, at 5:30 p.m. before heading over to conference rival Oswego East on Tuesday for the "Volley for the Cure" match at 5:30 p.m. The last time these two teams played on Sept. 6, the Wolves won in two games.
"I know they do not want to lose at the Volley for the Cure game," Lorenz said. "That's my goal - to get them prepared for that mentally and physically."
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
