Oct. 30, 2009

Final Stats

ADRIAN, Mich. - The volleyball team played one of their best matches of the year on Senior Night but could not close out the Scots in a 13-25, 25-23, 25-23, 18-25, 12-15 barn-burner that saw 19 ties and seven lead changes.

The senior class of Julie Smiertka, Natalie Niblock, Mary Rinke, Courtney Sellers and Valerie Smith got the start and could not build momentum against Alma. The Scots had a .240 attack percentage with 11 kills in the first set while Adrian hit -.110 with just four kills.

Adrian took the next two sets by identical scores and turned around their hitting woes from the first. The Bulldogs tallied 15 kills and a .333 attack percentage in the second set and 14 kills and a .125 attack percentage in the third set. The third set featured nine ties and two lead changes.

Alma pulled away late in the fourth set and hit .239 with 13 kills. In the fifth set, there were five ties and two lead changes. The set was tied 7-7 and Alma gained the lead and would not let go. Shelby Gray served an ace and Rebecca Ratkov followed with a kill to give Alma a 9-7 lead. Emily Laukus came up big with two kills as Alma held a 11-10 lead and Stephanie Bradshaw followed with an ace to give Alma a 14-10 lead. Sellers had a kill and Kelsey Thompson an attack error to get Adrian to 14-12 but Hannah Hewitt flipped a ball over the net and it hit the floor to give Alma the win.

Rebecca Tincknell led Adrian with 13 kills and hit .323. She also had five digs and four block assists. Rinke had seven digs, two aces and two kills. Smith tallied nine kills, three aces and five total blocks. Sellers ended with eight kills, two aces and nine digs. Adrian will play tomorrow in a pair of matches in Holland. They face Hope at 10 a.m. followed by a non-conference match with Manchester at noon.