Huron outlasts Willard in 5 sets

WILLARD — Huron has faced battles already this season. For the fourth time in six wins, the Tigers went the distance. This time, Huron had to come from behind, defeating Willard in a competitive 25-17, 15-25, 28-30, 25-14, 15-9 Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division victory Thursday. The Tigers already have five-set wins over Tiffin Columbian, Norwalk, Toledo Notre Dame Academy and now Willard. "It helps a lot," said Huron coach Don Wood of the experience early. "They had a good crowd making a lot of noise. Getting that experience in front of a hostile environment, there's no way you can't benefit from it, as long as you're learning things from it." Huron (6-1, 2-0 SBC Bay) never trailed in the fifth set. Ahead just 3-2, Huron strung the next seven points together to put a stranglehold on the set. Addison Graham tallied two kills while a kill apiece from Jada Foster and Ava Trevino gave Huron a 10-2 advantage. Willard (7-3, 1-1) showed a little bit of life, getting within 11-7 after a kill from Camryn Weirs and error on the Tigers. But, that was the closest the Crimson Flashes would get. Kills from Foster and Mya Smith, coupled with a Willard error, brought up match points. The Crimson Flashes faded two of the match points off kills from Leah Weiss, but a serving error into the net gave Huron the win. "In Set 3, we had every opportunity to win that set and we failed to make a couple game-winning plays," Wood said. "To come back after that and get that to Set 5, I was really proud of them. I challenged them like that. I can't say exactly what I said, but I challenged them. They responded very nicely. I was really pleased." Huron had to make a comeback after losing a wild third set. Instead of keeping the foot on the pedal, Willard was outplayed the final two sets. The Tigers got off to a fast start in Set 4. Huron won points in bunches, never letting Willard get going in the set. Six straight points by the Tigers, capped on two kills and a block by Smith, opened a 16-7 lead for Huron. What worked so well for the Crimson Flashes early was never evident in the fourth set and a kill from Graham and net violation on Willard evened the match at two sets apiece. "We had just won Game 3," Willard coach Ashley Bond said. "Why did we look like that? It was a whole different attitude in Game 4. I thought once Game 4 was over, we'd get it back in Game 5. We fought, don't get me wrong. We didn't have that same killer instinct we had in Game 3. That was very surprising after that comeback, but that's volleyball." Both teams had chances to win a crucial Set 3. Late in the set, Huron went up 24-23 after a kill by Jenna Cox. Willard responded and evened the set off of a Tigers error. The Crimson Flashes had set points at 25-24, 26-25 and 27-26, but couldn't covert. Huron had another set point up 28-27, but didn't cash in. Tied at 28, a violation on the Tigers gave Willard a fourth set point. The Crimson Flashes took advantage as a massive block from Paige Adams gave Willard a 2-1 lead. "They're big and they're solid and we knew their block was solid," Bond said. "We knew our block was solid. We talked a lot about covering. We knew we were going to get blocked because they're big. It was like we were trading. We'd block one and then they'd block one. The defense was there. It was a matter of not having the mental toughness at the end." Huron won the first set in similar fashion to the way it did the fourth set. The Tigers raced out to a 7-1 lead and were never threatened as Willard was slow out of the gate. Down 18-7 at one point, the Crimson Flashes cut within 20-16 after four straight points, but Huron scored the next four points. A kill from Cox put the Tigers up 1-0. "We handled the ball pretty well," Wood said. "Something Willard does better than any team we'll play is their blocking. They blocked so well. Our girls found ways and found some spots." Willard bounced back in Set 2. The Crimson Flashes played with more urgency not looking to go down 2-0. Willard only trailed once, but used four straight points to go up 9-6. Later, kills from Teagan Schaffer and Camryn Wiers made the advantage 18-13. The Crimson Flashes used a 10-2 run late in the set to even the match at a set apiece. A service ace from Schaffer tied it up. "I think they're getting a little tougher mentally," said Wood of his team. "That's one of the things I've wanted out of them was some mental toughness. I think I saw a little bit of that." Weirs finished with 15 digs and 12 kills while Natalie Slone had 25 digs and 12 kills for Willard. Weiss had 18 digs, 10 kills and four blocks, Emelia Tallman tallied 21 assists, Mya Stephens registered 13 assists, Schaffer recorded nine digs, five kills and five blocks and Alexis Rettig added nine digs. "What we told them is every game they have to take one game at a time," Bond said. "You can't say you're excited to play Huron again because if they don't take it one game at a time, that Huron match means absolutely nothing going into it." Reece Hotz registered 43 assists for Huron while Smith (two blocks) had 15 kills. Graham lined 12 kills, Foster had eight kills and three blocks and Trevino added seven kills and four blocks. Adelyn Van Sickle led the Tigers defense with 31 digs while Taylor Wlodarsky added 19 digs. Cox, who made some big serves for Huron, picked up 17 digs. The two teams will rematch Sept. 30 in Huron. "I knew coming in here it was going to be a battle," Wood said. "Anyone can win between us two. To come here for the first round and get one, really pleased and really pleased with our kids. We'll see them again and I expect the same kind of match."