ARCANUM – The Ansonia Lady Tigers battled back from an early two sets to none deficit to even the WOAC volleyball match at 2-2 before falling to the home-standing Arcanum Lady Trojans 3-2 in five.
“We knew Ansonia was going to come in and give us a scrappy game, and that’s exactly what they gave us,” said Arcanum coach Jacie Holman. “Lexi is obviously doing great things at that school, and I expect to see great things from them as the season goes on.”
“That was a great team we played, and the fact that we went to five with them after losing the first two – I’m so proud of my girls for fighting back, to dig deep and to play with confidence,” said Ansonia coach Lexi Custenborder. “To keep fighting and to have that performance that was a lot of growth for us.”
Ansonia grabbed an early 7-5 first-set advantage, but soon trailed 12-8, bringing a timeout from the Lady Tigers’ bench. The teams battled to a 19-19 score before Arcanum used a 6-1 scoring run to close out the opening set with a 25-20 win and go up 1-0.
Set No. 2 had the Lady Trojans racing out to a 6-0 advantage with Ansonia going to the bench for a timeout. Arcanum continued to increase its lead, getting their first double-digit lead of the night a 15-5 on their way to a second set 25-16 win and take a 2-0 advantage.
The teams opened with a 3-3 tie in the third set, only to have Arcanum double up on the visitors at 8-4. Ansonia responded with a 7-2 run to grab an 11-10 lead. The Lady Trojans earned the next two points to take the lead back at 12-11, with the teams even at 18-18, 19-19, and 21-21. Ansonia kept the match alive, scoring the final four points, sending the match to a fourth set with a 25-21 win.“Ansonia came and had the momentum,” Coach Holman said. “They had that momentum when we were flat, and we couldn’t figure it out. We’re a good team. Unfortunately, sometimes we get a little too comfortable, and Ansonia brought it at us, and we didn’t know how to adjust.”
Arcanum took an early 6-1 lead to open set No. 4, with Ansonia storming back with an 18-7 run to lead 19-13 on their way to a 25-16 fourth set win, sending the match to a deciding fifth set.
“We came out slow, seems to be the theme of what our game is lately, and then we got comfortable,” said Holman. “The second game, we gave them a good run, and then I told them don’t get too comfortable, and that is exactly what we did.”
“I kept telling them, it’s whoever wants it more,” said Custenborder. “I though skill-wise we could compete really well with them, and we just needed to have that belief within ourselves and the confidence. I think that was the change from the third and fourth set that we were playing confidently, we were playing aggressively with no fear.”
The teams opened with a 2-2 tie before the Lady Trojans got back on track with a 13-3 run to close out the night with a 15-5 win and earn a 3-2 conference victory.
“That can attest to our growth we have this season so far,” Coach Custenborder said of set three and four wins. “What we are focusing on is that when we get into those low moments and we get down, to fight back and be able to bounce back. That was huge for us from last year to this year.”
“We have to come in with a mindset of, we’re playing our game, and when we do that, we’re just fine,” said Coach Holman. “The other teams are going to give us a run for our money. We have targets on our back, and are we going to step up and accept it and win the WOAC, or are we going to lie down?”
With the win, Arcanum improves to 5-2 (2-0), Ansonia falls to 3-2 (2-1)
