Greencastle falls in five-set battle against Cascade

Competitive, compelling and close are all descriptive words for the high school volleyball match at McAnally Center on Tuesday night between Cascade and Greencastle.

The Cadets pulled out a five-set victory, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22, 19-25, 15-10 in a marathon contest that saw no squad ever lead by more than five points in any of the contests.

Consistency is an alliterative word that is not descriptive of the play as neither team could put together a major run during the hotly contested match. Each run that may have been started by either team was quickly squelched by either good defense or an unforced error that resulted in no team scoring more than six points in a row at any time.

There were a total of 39 tie scores in the five sets as both teams battled to the end. The loss dropped the Tiger Cubs to 9-6 on the season, while Cascade improved to 10-7 for the year.

“Cascade is a well-coached team that is able to run in-system and has some hitters. We can do some of those things as well. When you play against a team that plays a lot like you do, you have this type of game,” Greencastle head coach Denise Meyer said.

The back-and-forth nature of the entire match was typified early as the two teams battled closely with Greencastle pulling ahead at 16-11 on two straight Allie Landry aces, but Cascade’s Hailey Dunn got hot and had five kills in a 7-1 run to take a lead.

The teams battled closely until a couple of Cub errors turned a 20-20 tie into a 24-20 lead by Cascade who finished the first set with a kill and a 25-22 victory.

Greencastle seemed to take control early in the second set as Meilani York drilled an ace to give the Cubs an early 10-5 lead, but as would be the pattern, the Cadets would not let them get away.

Cascade battled back to tie the score twice, but the hosts would not allow them to retake the lead and another York ace gave the Cubs a 21-18 lead which they would maintain to finish the set as a Makenzie Creviston kill and another Landry ace provided the 25-21 advantage to tie the match at 1-1.

Rinse and repeat. The teams stayed within three points of each other for the majority of the third set. Greencastle took a 21-19 lead on a Keely Amis kill, but the Cadets would rally as three straight aces by Makenzie Hecht boosted Cascade to a lead that they would maintain to a 25-22 win and a 2-1 lead in the match.

“We are working on not letting a set get away from you. You never want a set to get too far away without a response. I think both teams did that tonight,” Meyer said.

To prove that point, Greencastle did not lead in the fourth set until it took an 18-17 lead late in the match. The Cadets could not pull away and after taking the lead as Ellie Knuth had an ace, York added a back row kill and Landry came up with a dink to give Greencastle a 23-18 lead and forced a Cadet timeout.

The Cubs would maintain the lead and end up with a 25-19 victory to tie the match at 2-2.

Greencastle’s offense came from the sides during the majority of the contest with Knuth, Landry, Hayley Owens and Rhoan Amis doing damage from the corners. Another key for the Cubs was the defense of York providing several big time digs and keeping the ball in play.

“Meilani is doing a fantastic job back there. She is working hard to try and give our offense a chance. Ellie, Allie and Hayley along with Rhoan Amis did a great job tonight,” Meyer said.

The final set started like the first four with multiple ties and the teams locked in at 8-8 before Cascade’s Allie Weigle scored two straight points and the Cubs never drew even again as Cascade was able to extend the lead and get the final set victory at 15-10.

“I was proud of how our girls kept battling all night. (Cascade) is tough and has some big hitters and we continued to fight,” Meyer said.

The Cubs must recover from the grueling contest quickly as they play again on Wednesday night traveling to North Montgomery and then play in the Putnam County tournament on Saturday.