Grace Brandt of North Union leaps to block a Benjamin Logan hit during the third set of a five-set match Tuesday. The Lady Cats won 3-2 to pick up their 14th consecutive win. (Journal-Tribune photo by Sam Dillon)
The North Union volleyball team found itself in a marathon match Tuesday when the Benjamin Logan Raiders came to town.
Ben Logan took NU to five sets, but it was the Lady Cats’ experience that gave them a 3-2 victory and their 14th straight win of the season.
Coach Alexis Maenz believes her Lady Cats were not prepared for Ben Logan’s early intensity.
“Ben Logan just had the mentality they were going to fight and we want this,” she said. “We had to rise to that challenge.
“We weren’t prepared or expected that, even though that is something we talk about in practice all the time.”
The two rivaling Central Buckeye Conference Mad River Division teams matched each other point-for-point through the first 40 markers (20-20) of set one.
BL stretched the gap to three points (24-21) in the final points of the game.
NU battled back with some solid serving from Grace Brandt that knotted the contest at 24-24.
The Lady Raiders, though, claimed set one with a 26-24 verdict.
Coming out on their heels in the opening set, North Union’s coach said she realized the team had a battle on its hands.
“Our goal is to be at the top of the conference and it isn’t going to be an easy battle,” Maenz said. “Nothing is going to be given to us.
“We are going to have to earn it all,” she said. “I think we came out flat.”
Set two was an encore with each team clinging to single point leads through the majority of the game.
A long volley that end with Regan Martino scoring NU’s 21st point with a cross-court blast was enough to give the team a 21-17 lead.
North Union kept the upper hand for a 25-20 win when Cambria Skaggs bumped a ball deep to the back row and evened the sets at 1-1.
Maenz said the little things are what make a difference in a tight contest like NU experienced.
“Communication early on was up and down and that hurt us,” she said. “It is the little things that can hurt us as we move through this season, so it is something we are going to have to fine tune.”
With neither team willing to break, set three saw the same determination from the two foes.
The Lady Cats took an early four-point lead, but that margin was quickly eroded as the set moved to 9-9.
The back-and-forth struggle continued through the 19-19 mark.
Ben Logan finally put some distance between itself and NU 23-19.
BL won the set 25-21 to take a 2-1 lead.
With neither side backing down, the ensuing game saw an extended battle with solid hitting from NU’s Journey Blevins and Kaitlyn DeLauter.
The pair picked up points to keep the Lady Cats in a 24-22 edge.
Ben Logan battled back to balance the scoreboard at 24-24 and ended up retaking the lead at 25-24.
On the match winning point, the two sides exchanged the ball seven times on a long volley.
Skaggs’ cross-court hit pushed the set to 25-25.
NU went on to win 27-25 and force a fifth set.
Maenz said she wants her team to be “scrappy,” adding that mentality helped North Union take the fourth set.
“You’ve got to know what to do next and that comes along with the intensity and hustle,” she said. “Everybody has to be coming to the ball. Everybody has to collapse to help cover, so it has to be a mindset of not allowing the ball to hit the floor.”
The fifth and final set was all Wildcats.
NU came out as a re-energized team and tallied the first seven points, thanks to solid hitting by DeLauter and Blevins.
The NU coach said her team’s ‘back was against the wall’ and they were not going down without a fight.
“Most of the group are seniors and they stepped up in that moment,” Maenz said. “They know this is their last chance for a lot of things, so we’ve got to go out and take it.”
The Raiders were able to answer with a few points of their own, but the duo of Blevins and DeLauter continued to dominate the net.
They pushed NU over the hump to take set five 15-6 and win the match.
The Lady Cats are now 15-1 and will return to action Thursday at Northwestern.