Volleyball: Crestview holds off Leipsic

VAN WERT — Remain calm and win a district title.

Crestview found themselves down 15-11 to Leipsic in the fourth set with the Knights looking to avoid heading towards a fifth set after they had won the first two but saw the Vikings score a third set win and eyeing a fourth with the 4-point lead.

Knight head coach Tammy Gregory called time out and told her team to relax and tape a deep breath.

“I told them ‘stay calm girls and take that big deep breath,” Crestview head coach Tammy Gregory said. “We run through a lot of pressure situations like this in practice and we focused on what one at a time and we needed one of those runs and we got one and that was big for them.

The 16th-ranked Knights responded by rallying to tie the score at 15-15 and then held off the determined No. 12 Vikings to notch the 25-23 win and secure the 3-1 win over Leipsic to win, 3-1, in the Division IV district finals Thursday. Crestview won 25-23, 25-21, 20-25 and 25-23.

With the win, Crestview advances to the regionals to face No. 4 Tiffin Calvert, a 25-15, 25-15, 25-10 winner against Fremont St. Joseph Central Catholic, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Elida. Leipsic ends its year with a 20-5 mark.

“That was exciting and I am so happy for the girls,” Gregory said. “Coming in here (at district) we weren’t relaxed but with the district semis under our belt we were a little more confident and they wanted it so bad. We haven’t been to the regionals since 2011 and what is weird about that it was Leipsic then to in the district finals.”

Crestview beat Leipsic in the regular season 3-1.

“Offensively they can hit the ball and defensively they can block the ball,” Leipsic head coach Brent Newell said. “They are good team and we are not taking anything away from them. It was a game of momentum and stringing points together and late in the fourth set, they are up 24-19 and 24-20 and we come back and string some points together but it was too little and too late.”

Gregory added that the team looked to the schools’ past banners for inspiration and motivation.

“It was something we wanted to accomplish and we got those first two sets and that was big and getting the momentum on our side. We struggled that third set but the girls never gave up.”

In those first two sets, the Knights foreshadowed their composure under pressure situations. In both of those sets, the two teams were tied at 18-18 and in both instances it was Crestview who produced in crunch time to earn those two wins.

Leipsic showed its grit and determination but seizing the momentum early at the onset of the third set when they opened up a 18-10 advantage. Crestview came storming back but the Vikings held off the Knights’ late charge to secure the set.

“We struggled in that third set but the girls never gave up,” Gregory said. “If we weren’t down as much as we were it could have been a different outcome in that game. I didn’t feel that got rattled. Leipsic is a very good team. They are well coached and against those teams you have to stay close and then anything can happen at the end and I think that is what happened.”

Riding the momentum of the victory, the Vikings owned a 15-11 lead in the fourth but that is when the timeout and advice came from Gregory and the team responded by retaking the momentum and holding off the Vikings for the win.

Crestview’s defensive play at the net was a major factor for the Knights as they continually turned back Viking spikes throughout the match. Credit the Vikings for making adjustments to offset the Crestview defensive wall with dinks and pushes but not enough to overcome Crestview in the long run.

“We have never been a strong blocking team and we worked on that every day in practice,” Gregory said. That is our goal is to get touches and slow that ball down and that was key. We had a lot of stuff blocks too and those were big momentum swings too. I always say a block for a point is bigger than a kill.”

Newell said, “It was the same thing we saw on Tuesday night with Lincolnview. Both of those teams block the ball so well and so hard for hitters to make the adjustment to get the ball around them. We didn’t do a good job of covering our hitters. It seems like when they blocked the ball they got a point, something that we have struggled with for a while here.”

Newell pointed out that his team dealt with ball control issues.

“We had seven hitting errors the first set and nine hitting in the second set and in the third set we only had a couple,” Newell said. “It is a big difference when you keep the ball inbounds. Our hitters did a good job and even in that last set they tried to play aggressive and play smart.”

Offensively, the Knights got a lot of contributions from a number of players. Lacy McCoy picked up here 1,000th career kill in the match. McCoy finished with 13 digs on the night.

The Vikings also put in a solid defensive outing and Alaine Brown was kept busy as she recorded 38 digs and broke a school record for most digs in a season. She also added two aces. Kasey Brough finished with 14 kills and two aces and Ava Henry added 10 kills. Serenity Siefer dished out 47 assists and made 14 digs and Danaysla Danzy had nine kills and 12 digs. Alivia Jones made nine kills and 10 digs.

Reach Jose Nogueras at 567-242-0468.