BLUFFTON — Sometimes athletic contests played at very high levels are decided by which team is the better of the two.
That was exactly the case Saturday when Southwood defeated Madison-Grant in three straight games in the opening round of regional volleyball play Saturday morning.
The Knights were winners 25-9, 25-16, 25-19. That dropped the Argylls to 28-8 and ended a courageous and encouraging season.
“I just told the girls (in the locker room) that we lost to a better team,” said M-G coach Bob Holloway. “They were just a little more polished than us and a little more experienced than us.”
A bit part of the Madison-Grant team and a lot of its experience had to sit the bench due to a knee injury. Senior Sydnie Holland was in uniform and took to the floor when the starters gathered to begin the match. She was taken out before the first serve and soon after she was missed.
The Argylls took a 2-0 lead on kills by sophomore Olivia Stroup and freshman Hunter Wise. Southwood scored the next three points and Madison-Grant’s only lead after that was 1-0 to start the second game.
In that opening contest the Knights had eight aces.
“We obviously had some serve reception breakdowns,” said Holloway. “That’s an area where Sydnie would have helped. She’s very comfortable with service return, especially hard serves. She would also have given us some flexibility to move people around.”
Southwood junior Abby Harness was also a problem for the Argylls at the net where she had two kills, two blocks and a tip in that first game.
Senior Maria Ellingwood’s tip gave the Argylls a 1-0 lead in Game Two and even though it was the only time the rest of the match that Madison-Grant led, the Argylls played better.
Southwood had just three aces. Wise had two kills and two blocks while Stroup had two kills and a tip. Harness was again a big player for the Knights with three blocks, two tips and a kill. Hannah Kirk and Celeste McCormick both had three kills for the winners.
“Our effort was really good the whole day,” said Holloway. “I think we relaxed a little bit more the second game and were a little more aggressive.”
The final game saw the Argylls fighting an uphill battle all the way. The Knights would spurt to a little lead and Madison-Grant would get close and then that pattern would repeat.
Finally, on Katie Kohlmorgen’s serve and a kill by Wise, the Argylls tied it at 11-11. In that game’s most pivotal moment, Southwood’s Kirk got a tip to hit the floor for a 12-11 lead and the Argylls would never again draw even.
Madison-Grant had one more spurt left. Trailing 21-16 mostly from the net play of the Knights’ Kristen Murphy, Stroup’s kill made it 21-17 and gave the serve back to Lauren Stanley.
Stanley served an ace and Wise put down a kill to cut the gap to 21-19. But Southwood’s Meghan Binkerd broke the string with a kill and Mallory Harnish served out the match.
With the score 24-19 in favor of the Knights, Holloway called a time out. After having a discussion with his coaches and his team, he decided to put Holland into the game.
“I did it out of respect for Sydnie,” said Holloway. “We put her in a spot where she wasn’t going to be asked to do too much.” She didn’t touch the ball, but it was a touching tribute regardless. The Argylls graduate just Holland and Ellingwood off this team.
“We’re certainly excited about the future,” said Holloway. “We had three freshmen and two sophomores on the floor there in one rotation.”
High School Sports
Madison-Grant volleyball falls to Southwood
Argylls finish regional run with 25-9, 25-16, 25-19 defeat
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