Walking into the hallway of Crestview, I was immediately greeted by the smell of popcorn and pizza. Which was such a kick in the pants, since my doctors put me on a strict diet. LOL.
Kids were running around the hallway, full of energy adults wish they had. Parents chatting like they hadn’t seen each other since…. Friday night’s football game.
The Crestview Lady Knights Volleyball team were opening their season at home, against the Paulding Panthers, in a non-conference game.
With the high school gymnasium under renovation until late September, the games are being played in the middle school. Despite that, it was a full house. Old and young, even some former players stopped by for the game.
The Lady Panthers went up quickly 3-0 in the first set, and didn’t let up at all, winning it easily, 25-13.
The second set started with both teams at one point apiece, when the floor official stopped play, called both of the team captains over to him, and had some words. There was a lot of net entanglements, and a small bit of chatter.
Afterwards, the teams traded points back and forth. Crestview scored 3 straight points, before Paulding called a timeout down 13-11. They continued to trade points, until Crestview called at timeout, up 19-18. The Lady Knights would end up winning the 2nd set 25-23.
The Panthers would jump out to a 6-0 lead, forcing Knights head coach Tammy Gregory to call a timeout early.
The two huddles were completely different. Gregory was calmly coaching her girls, using her hands to show proper bump techniques and overhands.
Panthers head coach Emily Taylor was enthusiastic and praising her girls for such a hot start.
Unfortunately, for the Lady Knights, the timeout did not stop the momentum right away, as the Lady Panthers promptly made it a 13-2 game. Finally, Crestview would go on their own run, as they’d score 6 straight points, forcing a Panthers timeout.
The Knights would get the score to 16-13, before Paulding would play the Reverse Uno card, and rattle off 4 straight to make it 20-16. Nothing would work for the Knights afterwards, dropping the 3rd set 25-16.
The 4th set would start off with more point trading. The Lady Knights would win a long rally, where both teams showed off tremendous athleticism and stamina, to make it a 3-3 score.
Paulding would win the next point and never let up the rest of the way.
Crestview made it close a few times, cutting the lead to 13-12, 18-16, and 20-17. The Panthers were simply too relentless. Scoring the final 5 points and winning the match 25-17.
I spoke to Crestview Head Coach Tammy Gregory after the game. I asked her what positives, she and the team could take away from the loss.
“We were at a size disadvantage. We were struggling with their size and aggressive attacks. I’m going to go to that third game of the match. You know, we were down, and we could’ve folded very easily, but we fought back.”
There are only 2 seniors on this team. However, a lot of the underclassman, got significant playing time last season. I asked if she expected their continued improvement to really help the team as the season continues.
“I think they’re going to step into their roles very well. What I like about this team, is they have good mentorship and they’re competitors. They have that team chemistry, their drive, and they’re there for each other. They’re going to get better, and they have the drive for that work.”
Leading the way for the Lady Knights…
Serving
Kaci Gregory 13/14 with 2 aces
Lainey Gardner 11/12 with 1 ace
Nora Perkins 10/11 with 1 ace
Ayla Kreischer 10/11 with 1 ace
Hitting
Kaci Gregory 16 kills
Kenadie Schwartz 8 kills
Ayla Kreischer 7 kills
Setting
Nora Perkins 30 assists
Digs
Kaci Gregory 12 digs
Ayla Kreischer 8 digs
Nora Perkins 6 digs
Blocks
Kaylee Owens 2 blocks
Kenadie Schwartz 2 blocks
The Crestview Lady Knights are back on the court this Thursday, as they travel to New Bremen, in another non-conference matchup.
– Sean McKenzie
Stats courtesy of…..Tammy Gregory.
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