By Drew Terhall

DailyAdvocate.com

VERSAILLES — Versailles High School volleyball showed why volleyball is a game about momentum. The Lady Tigers won their last home game of the season over the now 17-4 Marion Local High School volleyball team in four sets on Oct. 11.

Head Coach Liz McNeilan said to go toe-to-toe with a program like Marion Local is a great sign for the team.

“Our serve receive was off tonight, give kudos to Marion. They served hard against us. To be able to come out and execute on those balls and to take care of business when our serve receive was off, very proud of the team to be able to adjust to that,” McNeilan said.

The first set started out close. Both teams refused to get out of system early. Players were flying around trying to make plays on the ball.

Marion Local gained the edge with their offense and got a 14-20 lead. Versailles didn’t back down and went on a 4-0 run to get back into the set. But, the Lady Flyers were able to make more plays than the Lady Tigers and took the first set, 25-22.

It was Versailles turn in the second set to have the slight advantage on the scoreboard. Whenever Marion Local tied the score, Versailles would pull away with their offense. Despite a late Marion Local comeback, Versailles pushed forward just enough to get the 25-22 set win.

The Lady Flyers came out in the third and fourth set on fire. They had a 12-4 lead in the third set. They also had a 15-5 lead in the fourth set. But that wouldn’t be enough to hold off the Lady Tigers.

McNeilan said it took a total team effort to win a game like this. The offense started to click for the Lady Tigers. While not perfect, they made plays to keep the ball up. Their blocking and their serving stepped up to get the team back into the set.

“You don’t want to be too high in celebrating, but you don’t want to be too low and not have enough. I felt like we were too low in the middle of the sets or starting the sets when we were down crazy numbers,” McNeilan said. “We said focus on the point, focus on moving one step forward and we did. We were able to close the gap and come out on top.”

Once Versailles made it a close game, the arms would come to life. Both teams were hammering away, trying to close out the set. The Lady Tigers were able to ride the momentum they created to win the third and fourth set, 25-22.

It was a great last home game for the seniors to have. McNeilan said with the help of the seniors, the team did not lose a single home game this season.

“That was a very, very good win to go out on top. They were celebrating and they deserved that,” McNeilan said.

Versailles is now 16-5 on the season with a 6-2 conference record. They will end the season with an away game at St. Henry on Oct. 13.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected]