Lady Green struggles in Pepsi Classic

By Chris Koenig, ckoenig
Published:  Tuesday, October 2, 2007 (7 months, 2 weeks ago)
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CONVOY — The Ottoville volleyball squad had a tough day Saturday at the 8-team Pepsi Classic at Crestview High School.
The Lady Green (5-8) lost three matches: to Old Fort 25-19, 22-25, 25-18; top-ranked Marion Local 25-7, 25-17; and Ottawa-Glandorf 25-9, 25-21.
In the opening match, senior Gina Beining (10 kills, 4 blocks) and junior Tricia Honigford (9 kills, 6 digs) kept the Big Green in the first game early. But a few too many mistakes forced them into a 21-12 deficit. Beining recorded a kill, then took advantage of her height in blocking an Old Fort spike to get Ottoville within seven. Old Fort rolled up three straight points but a hitting error gave Ottoville hope. Alas, Ottoville returned the favor to fall behind 1-0.
Game 2 was a good back and forth battle, especially early as Old Fort grabbed a 14-13 Old Fort lead. An Old Fort miscue and an ace by freshman Tasha Kauffman (6 kills, 2 aces) put the Green up 15-14 lead; they would not trail again. Faced with a 24-22 lead, junior Brittany Beining (3 kills, 2 blocks) found a hole in the defense to force a game 3.
Ottoville really began struggling in that edition. As Old Fort had a 10-4 lead, Ottoville committed six straight mistakes, effectively ending the match. Ottoville didn’t give up as G. Beining led the attack and got good help from Kauffman but it wasn’t enough.
Contest No. 2 saw a tall and high-powered Marion attack that pounded kill after kill. Flyer senior Megan Barnhorst (11 kills, 2 blocks) and senior Abby Niekamp (13 kills) destroyed the Big Green. Honigford turned a good effort in the first game, recording three kills and a block. Barnhorst finished off the lopsided game on a kill.
In the second game, the undersized Big Green battled hard and got solid play from Kauffman. Marion Local led 10-5 at one point on consecutive Lady Green miscues. Following a Niekamp kill, Barnhorst ran off three straight points (2 kills, 1 ace). Ottoville responded with Honigford blocking a Niekamp power attempt and Marion made a mistake. It was all Flyers from then on; Niekamp and Barnhorst torched the Ottoville defense for point after point. Senior Alyssa Winner (5 kills) finished the match on a kill.
Leaders for the day were: Chelsea Ditto (24/25 serving, 3 aces), Brittany Beining (18/19 serving), Honigford (33/42 hitting, 15 kills), Gina Beining (34/42 hitting, 11 kills; 8 stuff-blocks) and Kaufman (28/36 hitting, 8 kills).
Ottoville hosts Ayersville tonight.
Crestview lost to Fort Recovery 25-20, 25-20; upset the Lady Titans 25-21, 27-25; and fell to the Flyers 25-13, 25-16.
“I’m proud of our girls for bouncing back after the defeat; we picked up an extremely hard draw with Fort Recovery and Ottawa-Glandorf,” stated Crestview coach Tammy Gregory. “O-G is a very good club and to bounce back and beat them is a great win for our program. I thought we were a little flat and intimidated by Ft. Recovery somewhat but the girls hung in their tough.”

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