'MAC attack' crushes Flo Valley in three
By DONN ADAMSON\Daily Journal Sports Editor
Sep 15, 2005 - 11:11:42 CDT
FLORISSANT - The Mineral Area College Lady Cardinals volleyball put on a clinic of spiking the ball for the Florissant Valley Norsewomen. The 'MAC attack' accounted for 45 kills to 19 for the Norsewomen, giving the Lady Cardinals a 30-25, 30-11, 30-26 victory.
Two main reasons attributed to MAC's success at the net. First as a team they were somewhat taller than the Norsewomen, and the second reason was Jennifer Gabrian who had 36 assists in the match. Gabrian also made three kills of her own and had three blocks to add to her great night of setting the ball. To top it off, Gabrian served 11 points for the Lady Cardinals with four going for aces.
The Lady Cardinals dominated the match overall, but not at first. Flo Valley controlled the game style from the start of the first game as Mineral Area seemed to be a bit disorganized. When they did get their attack assembled, they misfired with spikes going either out-of-bounds or into the net.
Flo Valley grabbed the early lead and hung on until they had a 16-11 advantage. The Norsewomen utilized spot attacks, hitting the open court with their kills and serves, which kept the Lady Cardinals off-balance and guessing on defense.
"I don't know why we come out like that," said MAC coach Tim Copeland. "We've got to get better and get going from the first click of the game. We just can't work our way into the match.
"We've got the Three Rivers Tournament this weekend, and I want to win that one, but we'll have to play better than tonight."
The 'MAC attack' started to gel and the Lady Cardinals tied the game at 16-16 on four service points by Libero player Jessica Murdick, forcing Flo Valley's coach Johnna Kinney to call time to talk with her troops.
Mineral Area took the lead on Monika Jaroszewicz' serve at 20-18. After side-outs were exchanged and the Lady Cardinals leap-frogged their score to 27-19 on the sharp serving of Cassidy Wisdom. Cassidy's serving was highlighted by the kills of Tiara Boyer. Boyer had 10 kills in the match, nine of which came in game one.
"I had to take Tiara (Boyer) out after the first game," said Copeland. "She pulled a muscle in her midsection and had to hold her side after each kill. She was hurting."
Flo Valley called for their second time-out after Wisdom had served six points straight. After the break, Wisdom tacked on another point on a serve that was never returned.
The Norsewomen scored the next five points to pull to within three at 28-25, but when a loose ball showed up above the net on MAC's side, Boyer pounded down her ninth kill of the game for the winning point.
The second game started out as a back-and-forth battle as the two teams traded side-outs until the score was 8-8. Gabrian got on a roll at the service line, pin-pointing each serve to keep Flo Valley's offense from setting up and getting off a strong attack.
The run of six straight points was highlighted by a Boyer kill and a huge block by Chaumone Robinson-Streater of a kill attempt from Flo Valley's backcourt. Robinson had three solo blocks in the match to help thwart the Noresewomen's attacking game.
But even more devastating to the Norsewomen was Murdick's defense as a Libero player. Murdick, time-and-time again came up with Flo Valley's spikes in the backcourt to keep the ball alive, either by diving to the floor for the dig or making one-arm stabs at shots going by her. Murdick came up with 37 digs in the match.
From 9-8, Gabrian served the Lady Cardinals to a 19-8 lead. At 13-8, Flo Valley called a time-out, but Gabrian's next serve was a no-return. The 19th point was made when Gabrian made a perfect set to Jaroszewicz, which the 6'1" hitter hit so hard that it struck a backrow defender on the forearms knocking her to the floor with the ball bouncing helplessly out of the court 30 feet away.
MAC's attack was going well. The constant boom, boom, boom heard in the gym was from the Lady Cardinals' kills attempts. When Jaroszewicz was off the floor or being blocked, Gabrian set up Wisdom on the other end and the 5'7" Bismarck graduate showed she could muscle the ball down as well with forecourt and backcourt kills.
Jaroszewicz had both Flo Valley players and fans in awe on her last four serves as she used a jump serve which went for two aces, one no-return, and a free ball that the 'MAC attack' put away.
Game three also started out even until Wisdom served the Lady Cardinals into a 12-8 lead with four straight serves. Mandy Bieser served up three more points to make the lead even bigger.
Murdick also served up three points as Gabrian took two loose balls above the net, turning them into kills. The Lady Cardinals struggled for little bit as Flo Valley closed to within three points at 23-20 on the serve of Rachael Vining who served five straight, and then even closer at 27-25 on the hard, low serve of Katie Molitor.
Megan Kelly served out the last point to end the match for the Lady Cardinals. Kelly had three block assists, five service points and five kills in the match.
The Lady Cardinals are now 12-4 and 2-1 in the MCCAC, and will play in the Three Rivers Tournament in Poplar Bluff starting on Friday.
Copyright ©
Pulitzer Missouri Newspapers. All rights reserved.
http://www.dailyjournalonline.com/articles/2005/09/15/sports/sports2.txt
Two main reasons attributed to MAC's success at the net. First as a team they were somewhat taller than the Norsewomen, and the second reason was Jennifer Gabrian who had 36 assists in the match. Gabrian also made three kills of her own and had three blocks to add to her great night of setting the ball. To top it off, Gabrian served 11 points for the Lady Cardinals with four going for aces.
The Lady Cardinals dominated the match overall, but not at first. Flo Valley controlled the game style from the start of the first game as Mineral Area seemed to be a bit disorganized. When they did get their attack assembled, they misfired with spikes going either out-of-bounds or into the net.
Flo Valley grabbed the early lead and hung on until they had a 16-11 advantage. The Norsewomen utilized spot attacks, hitting the open court with their kills and serves, which kept the Lady Cardinals off-balance and guessing on defense.
"I don't know why we come out like that," said MAC coach Tim Copeland. "We've got to get better and get going from the first click of the game. We just can't work our way into the match.
"We've got the Three Rivers Tournament this weekend, and I want to win that one, but we'll have to play better than tonight."
The 'MAC attack' started to gel and the Lady Cardinals tied the game at 16-16 on four service points by Libero player Jessica Murdick, forcing Flo Valley's coach Johnna Kinney to call time to talk with her troops.
Mineral Area took the lead on Monika Jaroszewicz' serve at 20-18. After side-outs were exchanged and the Lady Cardinals leap-frogged their score to 27-19 on the sharp serving of Cassidy Wisdom. Cassidy's serving was highlighted by the kills of Tiara Boyer. Boyer had 10 kills in the match, nine of which came in game one.
"I had to take Tiara (Boyer) out after the first game," said Copeland. "She pulled a muscle in her midsection and had to hold her side after each kill. She was hurting."
Flo Valley called for their second time-out after Wisdom had served six points straight. After the break, Wisdom tacked on another point on a serve that was never returned.
The Norsewomen scored the next five points to pull to within three at 28-25, but when a loose ball showed up above the net on MAC's side, Boyer pounded down her ninth kill of the game for the winning point.
The second game started out as a back-and-forth battle as the two teams traded side-outs until the score was 8-8. Gabrian got on a roll at the service line, pin-pointing each serve to keep Flo Valley's offense from setting up and getting off a strong attack.
The run of six straight points was highlighted by a Boyer kill and a huge block by Chaumone Robinson-Streater of a kill attempt from Flo Valley's backcourt. Robinson had three solo blocks in the match to help thwart the Noresewomen's attacking game.
But even more devastating to the Norsewomen was Murdick's defense as a Libero player. Murdick, time-and-time again came up with Flo Valley's spikes in the backcourt to keep the ball alive, either by diving to the floor for the dig or making one-arm stabs at shots going by her. Murdick came up with 37 digs in the match.
From 9-8, Gabrian served the Lady Cardinals to a 19-8 lead. At 13-8, Flo Valley called a time-out, but Gabrian's next serve was a no-return. The 19th point was made when Gabrian made a perfect set to Jaroszewicz, which the 6'1" hitter hit so hard that it struck a backrow defender on the forearms knocking her to the floor with the ball bouncing helplessly out of the court 30 feet away.
MAC's attack was going well. The constant boom, boom, boom heard in the gym was from the Lady Cardinals' kills attempts. When Jaroszewicz was off the floor or being blocked, Gabrian set up Wisdom on the other end and the 5'7" Bismarck graduate showed she could muscle the ball down as well with forecourt and backcourt kills.
Jaroszewicz had both Flo Valley players and fans in awe on her last four serves as she used a jump serve which went for two aces, one no-return, and a free ball that the 'MAC attack' put away.
Game three also started out even until Wisdom served the Lady Cardinals into a 12-8 lead with four straight serves. Mandy Bieser served up three more points to make the lead even bigger.
Murdick also served up three points as Gabrian took two loose balls above the net, turning them into kills. The Lady Cardinals struggled for little bit as Flo Valley closed to within three points at 23-20 on the serve of Rachael Vining who served five straight, and then even closer at 27-25 on the hard, low serve of Katie Molitor.
Megan Kelly served out the last point to end the match for the Lady Cardinals. Kelly had three block assists, five service points and five kills in the match.
The Lady Cardinals are now 12-4 and 2-1 in the MCCAC, and will play in the Three Rivers Tournament in Poplar Bluff starting on Friday.