Portagers fall to CCA in three

by Bob Allan, Manistee News Advocate
October 9, 2012
 

BIG RAPIDS — In their own way, Onekama volleyball coach Sherri Slater and Crossroads Charter Academy coach Amanda Brown said the same thing Tuesday evening.

The Cougars needed three games to knock off the Portagers 25-13, 25-20, 25-20. But it was the lulls in the middle of all the games that had the coaches scratching their head afterward.

“It was a slow start, but I’m happy with how we picked it up the last two games,” Slater said. “(Crossroads) is a good serving team and one of the best hitting teams in the conference and we have to be ready for that.”

The Cougars had little trouble in rolling to a 25-13 win in the first set.

But Crossroads Charter Academy had its own letdown, trailing 18-11 in the second game before roaring back behind the serving of Melissa Shank, who had three aces in a stretch that saw the Cougars take a 21-20 lead.

“We went out from having something to prove (in the first game) to we did it and we didn’t have to do it again,” Brown said. “I’m happy we pulled it out, but we can’t let that happen.”

Slater said the second game was very indicative of how her team has played all season, start strong, but falter late.

Alexis Tribfelner and Kelly Koon each had four kills for Onekama, while Anna Brown handed out 10 assists.

“That’s been our deal all year,” Slater said. “We jump out in matches and we’re unable to finish it. It’s going to that point in the season that it is due or die. I am happy with the effort.

“From what I saw, it’s a matter of getting passes (to the setter) and attacking the ball instead of sending a ball that is easy to handle,” she continued. “Mentally, we have to play harder so we can finish off those games.”

Crossroads and the Portagers exchanged points through most of the beginning of the third game. The Cougars would take a 19-15 lead late, only to watch Onekama battle back and reclaim a 20-19 advantage.

Behind three aces from Malory Carlson, Crossroads was able to close out the match.

Carlson finished with 20 digs and nine kills, while Shank tallied 14 digs and six kills. Deborah Reichow had 27 assists and Katie Vander Sloot tallied 18 assists.

“We’re still talking about winning the league,” Amanda Brown said after her team improved to 5-1 in the West Michigan D League. “We know we need (Mason County Eastern) to lose, but we still are thinking about taking first.”