GREENVILLE – In its final home match of the season the Greenville volleyball team lost in three sets to Greater Western Ohio Conference foe Tippecanoe on Wednesday, 25-10, 25-17, 25-12.
Greenville struggled early in the match but got stronger as the evening went on. In the opening set Tippecanoe scored the first seven points and then extended its lead to as many as 19 points, 22-3. The Lady Wave finished the game strong, however, and scored seven of the next nine points before losing 25-10.
Greenville lost 25-10, 25-11, 25-16 to Tippecanoe in August so the Wave might have had some nerves at the beginning of Wednesday’s match, coach Chelsea Dowd said. The first-year Greenville head coach worked to fire her team up prior to the second set and also reverted back to a lineup the Wave had used earlier in the season.
“The first time we played Tipp we did not play well, and I think they were really nervous about seeing them again, especially on a big night, senior night,” Dowd said. “But, you know what, we went back to our original lineup, I think they felt more comfortable, and they stepped it up. They knew they needed to play better, and they did. They definitely improved from the first game to the second and in the third.”
Greenville immediately saw improved play in the second set and took leads of 1-0, 2-1, 3-1, 4-3, 5-4 and 6-5. Tippecanoe then started to regain control and from a 9-9 tie went on a 16-8 run to close out the set and to up 2-0 in the best-of-five match.
In the third set Greenville took an early 2-0 lead before Tipp rattled off five consecutive points. Greenville battled back to tie the game at 5-5 and then 8-8 but never regained the lead in a 25-12 loss, giving Tippecanoe a three-set victory.
“There were way more rallies in the third game,” Dowd said. “For me, when there are good rallies, that’s when you know the match is being played well.”
With Wednesday’s loss Greenville fell to 5-15 overall and 4-9 in the GWOC. Tippecanoe improved to 14-5 overall and 10-2 in the GWOC.
Greenville has a pair of regular season matches remaining this year beginning with a contest at Piqua on Tuesday before traveling to Sidney for its regular season finale on Oct. 12.
Prior to Wednesday’s home finale, Greenville honored its lone senior – Logan Tabler.
“I could talk all day about Logan Tabler,” Dowd said. “Logan, since (junior varsity coach) Janelle (Rinderle) started … we’ve been with her since our first year here … that girl … positive, good at her position, setting, good at defense, good at hitting. She is an all-around athlete, No. 1, which you can tell because she plays all these sports. Captain of the team. We will be so sad to see her go, and the girls will miss her. They respond well to her. She knows how to bring everybody together, and girls, they rally around her. I can’t say enough good things about Logan Tabler. I have goosebumps thinking about it.”
