New faces, same results.
Several multiple-year starters for the Huron and Edison volleyball programs may have graduated, but the intensity and competitiveness between the two is alive and well.
Edison rallied from an 18-15 deficit in Game 4 to force a decisive fifth game Tuesday night at Huron High School. The Tigers, the defending Division III state champions, and Chargers then went back-and-forth in a classic finale that eventually saw the Tigers come back from a 15-14 deficit to claim a 18-16 thriller.
Huron took Games 1 and 3, 25-17, 25-19 while Edison won Games 2 and 4, 25-17, 25-23.
“I was prepared to be very positive with my team, win or lose, after that,” Huron coach Don Wood said. “I was real pleased with our emotions throughout the game. I thought we were very steady throughout the game.
“We stayed off that roller coaster. Even when things weren’t going well, we seemed to stay fairly level-headed and kept playing.”
Edison led by as many as three points in Game 5 at 6-3 and 7-4, but once the Tigers tied the match at 12 on a kill by Devon Koenig, it was a seesaw the rest of the way.
Edison had leads of 14-13 and 15-14, but Samantha Wechter Wechter and Ellie Justus got kills for Huron each time to tie the match at 15. Moments later Huron went ahead 16-15 on a lob by Katlyn Sommer. It was just the second time in the game Huron had a lead.
Zoe Gastier had the answer for Edison with a kill that sliced through the Huron defense to tie it at 16. Another lob by Sommer gave the lead back to Huron, and she served the ensuing winning point over as Edison couldn’t find a handle on the ball to end the two-hour marathon.
Late in the match, Huron sophomore hitter Kat Ferrell went down with an ankle injury after going 26-of-32 hitting with 10 kills. She was replaced by Justus, who made a key play the moment she got on the floor.
“When we were tending to Kat, the rest of the kids got together and calmed each other down,” Wood said. “You just had to know the ball was going to go to the substitute on the first swing.
“Ellie has the knack for getting kills at the right time. She did it a couple times last year. She’s worked hard in the offseason to be a part of the team, and that was the most important swing right there.”
In the 2009 season opener, Edison rallied from a 19-13 deficit in Game 4 and won 26-24 to force a decisive fifth game, which they won, 15-13.
“They had a nice lead in Game 4 and we did a nice job coming back,” Edison coach Sean Hoover said. “It got us to Game 5 and we had match point a couple times there in the last game and so did they. They made one more play in the end.
“It was a fun first match of the year, but I hope the others aren’t this close. We had a lot of opportunities, but there were a lot of things we did well. Huron played solid defense and got the kills they needed to in the end.”
For Huron, Taylor Slauterbeck had a big night. The senior finished with 14 kills on 37-of-40 hitting while adding 24-of-25 serving with 21 digs. The new setting combination of Sydney Grendow (23 assists) and Wechter (22 assists) finished 144-of-148.
Taryn Graham added 21 digs and 17-of-17 serving while Erin O’Reilly was 17-of-19 hitting with nine kills.
For Edison, Zoe Gastier had 14 kills, five blocks and 23 digs while Abbey Cox added 14 kills and 11 blocks. Elyse Gastier finished with 40 assists while Lauren Teed added 30 digs defensively.
Carmen Tinnel added eight kills and seven blocks while Chelsea Frankboner contributed seven kills and seven blocks. Susan Knight added six kills for Edison, which hosts Port Clinton Thursday.
Huron travels to Clyde.