SECTIONAL VOLLEYBALL
Forreston battled, but fell to Pirates in two games BY ANDY COLBERT acolbert@oglecountynews.com
ABOVE: Forreston’s Katie Erdmann (13) spikes as Galena’s Mackenzie Muehlep (22) and Drew Wasson (20) try and block during Monday night action at the Port Byron (Riverdale) Sectional. BELOW: Forreston’s Grace Carr (15) blocks. Photos by Earleen Hinton a Pirate return error gave Forreston its biggest lead of the game at 20-18, forcing Wills to call a timeout to settle his team down. “I saw some nerves from my girls,” he said. Sami Wasmund and Morgan Wills, the coach’s niece, came up with kills to help their team take the lead back at 22-21. Taylor Greenfield then tied it at 22-apiece with Erdmann getting ready to make a return to the front line. A Wills kill and tremendous Pirate defensive effort on two kill attempts by Erdmann gave Galena a 24-22 lead. “We wanted to cheat the middle to (Erdmann’s) side,” Wills said. Wills and his players knew where the ball was going and were defenseless in stopping Erdmann from making three straight kills, the latter a nifty tip to give Forreston match point at 25-24. Galena caught a break when the potential winning serve went out of bounds. But, it was Erdmann slamming down another point for 26-25 match point.
See SECTIONAL, Page 21
• Friday, November 2, 2018
The Forreston volleyball team put itself in position to win its 2A sectional semifinal against a standout Galena team, undefeated in NUIC play since 2016. The Cardinals led 13-7 in the second contest and had match point three times in game one. Both times, though, the Pirates survived and advanced to the sectional final with a 29-27, 25-21 win. Still, it was an evenly matched battle that could have gone either way. “I knew going in that it was going to be tough,” Forreston coach Shannon Williams said. “Even though we were up at times and in position to win, we just didn’t have the energy and excitement we had from last Thursday.” For the large crowd at Port Byron Riverdale, including fans from Orion and Lena-Winslow waiting for the nightcap, it was a nail biter between Forreston and Galena from the opening serve when Forreston got an ace and the Pirates came right back with a block of a Katie Erdmann kill attempt. Galena took the early advantage 13-6, with the most impressive rally point coming after two great digs and a block to go up 9-6. “We knew they’d be hitting on the strong side and planned our defense accordingly,” Wills said. “We just wanted to live to play another play.” With Alexus Houston serving, the Cardinals finally got back into the game. In five straight points, it was return error and out-of-bounds by Galena, a pair of kills by Erdmann and service ace. “They kept us out of our system,” Galena coach Dennis Wills said. Forreston finally got a lead at 17-16 on another Erdmann kill. Grace Carr, who had a critical kill earlier in Galena rally, kept service for four points, including an ace in that stretch. “I’m proud of how the girls kept their composure and worked their way back into the game. They didn’t give up which I was extremely proud of them for,” Williams said. From that part of the game on, neither team was able to take more than a 2-point lead. Houston laid a kill just inside the line for a 19-18 Cardinal line. Then,
SPORTS | Oregon Republican Reporter, Mt. Morris Times / oglecountynews.com
Volleyball Cards fall to Galena at 2A sectional
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