TIPP CITY – The Versailles volleyball express rolled on as the Tigers improved to 14-10 and now have a district trophy to add to their mantle.
On this Halloween day they showed a spooky display of athleticism by dispatching 18-7 Reading’s Blue Devils in three straight sets, 25-21, 25-8 and 25-16.
The Versailles squad of head coach Karla Frilling now will advance to a regional semifinal bout at 6 p.m. Wednesday against private school powerhouse Newark Catholic, who came out of the Marion 2 district. The Green Wave dispatched Utica in four close games as they were seeded No. 2.
The match between the Tigers and Green Wave will take place at Trent Arena on the campus of Kettering Fairmont. The winner will take on the winner of Miami East and Anna in a game time of 2 p.m. on Saturday in the regional final. Versailles fans are urged to buy tickets for $6 at the school for Wednesday’s match because at the gate they will be $8.
In the first game on Saturday Versailles jumped out to a 2-0 lead, then was tied up 2-2 by the Blue Devils on Red Devil court. Versailles then catapulted on a 5-0 run with Danielle Winner smashing and blocking at the net for a 7-2 advantage.
The lead extended to a 10-6 gap before Reading went on a roll to tie it at 10-all. Versailles then proceeded to knock off three straight points for a 13-10 advantage with Elizabeth Ording providing a nice smash for the Tiger faithful.
The Tigers then took control briefly by rattling by taking five of the next six points when it was down to 14-13 with Marisa Turpen serving it to 19-14. However, the Reading Blue Devils provided their best momentum toward the last as they scored six straight points on the Tigers for a 20-19 advantage.
After the Tigers knotted it at 20-20 Lauren Monnin and company led Coach Frilling squad on a four-point march for a 24-20 advantage and finished it out on a Danielle Winner dink to capture the first game, 25-21.
The second game saw the Tigers pounce quickly on the now deflated Blue Devils as they scored eight straight points after a 1-1 tie with Winner, Lindsey Didier and Elizabeth Ording stuffing everyone at the net and Kami McEldowney serving well to go up 9-1.
Versailles then went another tangent as the Tigers scored five of the next seven points to go up 14-3. Versailles then extended the pressure by taking six of the next nine points to go up 20-6 with Elizabeth Ording smashing well on the beleaguered Blue Devils. Versailles then read the Reading Blue Devils the riot act by capturing five of the next seven points to close the second game out 25-8 with Marisa Turpen serving well down the stretch.
In the third game Reading took its second and last lead of the entire game by going up 1-0. The Blue Devils’ lead was short lived, however, as Versailles rambled off five straight points after reaching a 2-1 count buoyed by the sensational smashing of Elizabeth Ording and Danielle Winner hitting winner after winner followed by Monnin, who had the best shot of the match with a curve shot that left the Reading Blue Devils looking blue in the face.
After a timeout by Reading, Versailles ripped off four of the next six points to go up 12-4 strengthened by a Turpen ace. Reading continued to tread water as Versailles continued their mastery with the aid of Kami Ording exciting the crowd with a smash from the back of the court as the Tigers sent the Blue Devils flaming out.
Reading made one last gasp effort to close it within 15-11, but this was soon nullified with the help of Monnin stemming the tide with a smash again from the back court to open up a 22-14 lead.
After that it was all over as Winner had three smashes to help determine the final outcome of 25-16. This finished up senior-laden Reading at 18-8 and a long bus ride ensued back to Cincinnati. As a matter of fact all three teams coming out of the Brookville Sectional dispatched their Cincinnati foes in three straight sets.
“We needed to get on them right away, which we did today and played together,” Coach Frilling said. “Our strength is that we can attack from all sides and we have the talent to do so. We are moving along, but we are not peaking yet as we are taking every match as it comes. We did not lose our focus after winning a tough first set, which seemed to deflate Reading as the second game progressed. We will definitely do some scouting as the team we play is out of our area from the Marion District.”
The stats from the stats crew show Kristin Langston with four digs, Elizabeth Ording with 10 kills, Danielle Winner with 15 smashes, and Monnin chipping in with five hammers.. Elizabeth Peters again matched her total from last game with 37 assists.
Assisting head coach Frilling are Tara Winner, Kenzie Bruggeman and Danielle Langston.
