Tuesday, September 15, 2009 11:36 AM CDT
Mattoon finds balance to stop Charleston
BY BRIAN NIELSEN, Sports Editor
bnielsen@jg-tc.com
MATTOON -- Trying to dive for a dig in the first game, Reynae Hutchinson hit her funny bone and was shaking her arm for a while.
That was not why Mattoon’s volleyball standout spent some time on the bench during the second game.
“She just totally was carrying the weight of the entire team on her shoulders,” Lady Green Wave coach Susan Hutchinson said of her daughter. “She was trying to do too much.”
That was not necessary on this night when junior Shannon Lowry had five of her team-high seven kills in the second game helping Mattoon secure Monday’s 27-25, 25-18 volleyball win over Charleston in the Volley For a Cure night where the two rivals worked together raising money for breast cancer awareness.
So this was hardly a total loss for Charleston, which despite eight kills and eight digs by Alex Werden fell to 3-7 while Mattoon raised its record to 7-1 heading into its Big 12 Conference opener at home against Bloomington.
“I’m never going to sit here and say I’m satisfied with a loss but Mattoon is an awesome team and I’m very proud of our effort,” Charleston coach Beth Anne Lancaster said. “My girls are playing smarter. Those two (Emily Rose and Brandi Coffey) had an awesome match.”
Charleston had least achieved one of its goals of slowing down Reynae Hutchinson, who still managed six kills and 10 digs.
“I told our girls ‘she’s one of the best players in the area and we’re not going to let her beat us,’ ” Lancaster said. “She’s a great player and she’s going to get her kills but it’s how we handle that on the next point.”
Mattoon showed it had other weapons as well.
Kayla Patrem served four of her five aces in the first game helping the Lady Wave build a 9-3 lead but with Savannah Essary going on her own serving spree that included two aces in a run of six points, Charleston took a 23-21 lead.
“Like coach Max (assistant Amanda Maxedon) said, we’d get up and then let up,” Susan Hutchinson said. “With volleyball in this area there’s so much energy and girls want to play. Especially with it being Charleston, they’re not going to quit.
“I think we were all a little tense tonight. I think it’s the whole Charleston-Mattoon rivalry thing. At school today people who weren’t even volleyball fanatics were saying ‘hey, it’s Charleston tonight.’ It’s like why all the hype it’s? It’s a volleyball match.”
Mattoon still had its answer, going back ahead. Then after Brittany O’Dell’s kill pulled Charleston into a 25-25 tie, the Lady Wave’s Kaitlyn Bradd pounded a hard kill to the floor and Patrem ended game one with a tip kill.
“The difference in the first game was our errors,” Lancaster said.
The difference in game two may have been Lowry.
“I’m very proud of Shannon Lowry,” Susan Hutchinson said. “I told her if I had game ball to give out, it would be to her. The setters were feeding her. I tell them to feed whoever is the hot hitter.”
Michelle Glenn with 13 assists and Kara Salmon with 12 shared the setting duties for Mattoon.
Both teams have conference matches tonight. Mattoon is to play host to Big 12 Conference foe Bloomington while Charleston is to travel to Newton for an Apollo Conference match.
VARSITY
Mattoon def. Charleston 27-25, 25-18
CHARLESTON: Kenzie Eveland 12 digs; Sam Hogue 1 ace, 1 dig; Brittany O’Dell 4 kills, 1 dig, 1 blcok; Aryel Phinney 7 points, 2 aces, 1 block; Emily Rose 3 kills, 5 digs, 1 block; Rachel Doty 1 dig; Savannah Esarey 10 points, 2 digs, 3 aces; Alex Werden 8 kills, 8 digs, 1 block; Brandi Coffey 1 assists, 2 kills, 1 dig
MATTOON: Kayla Patrem 5 aces, 5 kills, 5 digs; Kaitlyn Bradd 1 ace, 5 kills, 4 digs, 2 digs; Kara Salmon 1 ace, 1 kill, 12 asists, 2 digs; Shannon Lowry 7 kills, 2 aces, 2 blocks; Michelle Glenn 1 ace, 1 kill, 13 assists, 3 digs, 1 block; Reynae Hutchinson 6 kills, 10 digs; Hannah Miller 1 dig
JUNIOR VARSITY Charleston def. Mattoon 17-25, 25-18, 25-23
CHARLESTON (3-1): Murphy Walters 12 points, 3 kills, 3 digs; Sam Maxey 3 digs; Caitlin Wend 13 points, 4 aces, 1 dig, 11 assists
MATTOON: Lexi Thompson 1 kill, 1 block; Tabi Reinbolt 1 kill, 2 blocks; Hannah Vieth 3 aces, 6 kills, 2 assists; Brittneyh Evans 1 ace; Whitney Godden 7 aces, 3 kills, 1 block, 7 assists; Hannah Sinclair 1 ace, 3 kills, 2 blocks; Kayla Jacobs 2 aces, 5 kills
FRESHMEN Mattoon def. Charleston, 25-22 25-13
CHARLESTON: Terrika Price 6 points, 1 kill, 8 digs, 1 assist; Clair Ebinger 4 points, 4 digs; Emily Jones 5 points, 1 ace, 3 kills, 2 digs; Ashtan Marucco 5 points, 2 aces, 1 kill, 2 digs; Karley Gardner 4 points, 5 digs; Aslesha Binkley 7 points, ace, 4 digs, 8 assists; Kelsie Abolt 2 kills, 1 dig; Laura Prischet 3 kills, 1 dig
MATTOON (4-0); Dulcey Weaver 3 aces, 4 digs; Jamie Packer 5 aces, 2 kills, 5 assists, 2 digs; Allie Diltz 1 ace, 3 kills, Michaela Polston 1 ace, 4 digs; Kacey Starwalt 3 aces, 3 kills, 6 digs; Brooke Rieck 1 dig
Contact Brian Nielsen at bnielsen@jg-tc.com or 238-6856.
Add your comments
Not already registered?
Then click Here.
Comment policy:
JG-TC.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted are not posted to the site immediately. They go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. Comments posted on Saturday may not be reviewed until Sunday afternoon.
In order to keep the page a set width, long lines (mostly long links) will be chopped. Try putting spaces in your links or consider using tinyurl.com to make a smaller link that you can include.
We will never edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to remove comments that violate our code of conduct.
No comment may contain:
* Potentially libelous statements; such as accusing somebody of a crime, defamation of character, or statements that can harm somebody's reputation.
* Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
* Personal attacks, insults, threats, harassment or inciting violence.
* Commercial product promotions.
If you have any questions, please contact our moderator.
|
|
|
|
|
