NEW MADISON—The Tri-Village Lady Patriots hosted the Franklin Monroe Lady Jets in a WOAC volleyball match that went the distance. The Lady Patriots pulled out a 3-2 win over their Darke County rival.
“We knew coming in it was going to be a tough match for us,” said Tri-Village coach Taylor Rawlings. “It was good that our girls came out on top. I was proud of them for that.”
“We did good, and then we came down, and then we’re up and down,” Franklin Monroe coach Angie Filbrun stated. “It’s like a rollercoaster; we’re up and then down, and we just couldn’t finish on the upside.”
“We cannot hang our heads,” Filbrun added. “We did good things out there. We have to come out tomorrow firing again.”
Tri-Village got out to a 4-1 first-set lead and upped its advantage to 14-10 before the Lady Jets battled back with a 12-8 scoring run to even the score at 22-22 on their way to a 26-24 win over the Lady Patriots and take a 1-0 advantage.
The Lady Patriots bolted out to a 9-1 second-set lead, bringing a timeout from the Franklin Monroe bench. Tri-Village kept up its aggressive play, extending its advantage to 16-3. The Lady Jets used a 14-7 run to cut the margin to 23-17, bringing a Tri-Village timeout. The Lady Patriots went on to a 25-18 win, evening the conference match at a game apiece.
In the third set of the night, Franklin Monroe took an early 10-8 lead before Tri-Village closed out the set with a 17-10 run to go up 2-1 with a 25-20 win.
Franklin Monroe earned its fourth set margin of victory in opening play, taking an early 7-1 lead that would hold up for a 25-20 win, sending the match to a fifth and final set with the teams tied at 2-2.
Tri-Village took an early five-point lead and never trailed in the fifth set on its way to a 15-11 WOAC victory.
“The fifth set is so short that if you get down by three, four, it’s just hard to come back because then you’re timid, and you don’t want to be aggressive,” Coach Filbrun said. “You just have to come out pounding. Tomorrow is a new day. We have four solid matchups next week, three league and one non-conference.”
Tri-Village senior Lilly Camacho recorded her 500th career kill playing for the Lady Patriots.
“We’re getting close to where we want to be but not quite yet,” Coach Rawlings stated. “We are building that confidence. We have a senior, Lilly Camacho, who has been swinging well for us. Kenna Wilcox played great for us tonight. Our defense showed up: Heidi Bell, Mylee Bierly, and Camryn Osborne. Credit to FM, they have great hitters, but our defense did a nice job tonight.”
With the win, Tri-Village improved to 9-8 overall and 6-2 in the WOAC. Franklin Monroe dropped to 8-8 overall and 6-2 in conference play.
