Knights slay St. John’s netters in 4 games

By Chris Koenig, ckoenig
Published:  Tuesday, October 9, 2007 (1 year, 1 month ago)
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CONVOY — Crestview’s volleyball team picked up a good home victory Saturday morning, defeating the Blue Jays of St. John’s in four games, 25-21, 21-25, 25-23, 25-21.
“Great win for the girls against a good program like Delphos St. John’s,” stated Crestview head coach Tammy Gregory. “They threw a lot at us and we adjusted and responded well.”
The home team was led by junior Libby Motycka, who finished with 14 kills, three blocks and two aces, as well as classmate Carly Lichtensteiger, who chalked up 13 kills, four blocks and four digs.
“Consistency hurt us,” said Blue Jay skipper Kaila Cook.
Her club got great games out of sophomore Lindsy Reindel (15 kills, 13 blocks) and junior Nicole Wallenhorst (12 kills, 8 blocks, 1 ace).
In the first, Crestview took off on a 12-8 start behind consecutive kills by Motycka. The Jays came right back with a block by senior Stephanie Knippen (7 kills, 9 blocks) and a Knight error, making it 12-10. After an exchanging of points, Motycka split the defense for another kill and Delphos couldn’t return a volley, making it a 14-10 game. Two more St. John’s errors followed by a Jennifer Miller (senior; 12 kills, 9 digs, 3 aces) kill gave Crestview the cushion it needed. Wallenhorst and Reindel led a late 5-0 run that made the score 24-21 but it was too late.
Delphos came out the second game firing on all cylinders. Senior Kelly Grothouse served up consecutive aces to spark-plug the Jays’ attack. Crestview would settle down as St. John’s made several errors but still led 20-19. Delphos picked up a point on a Crestview mistake and Gregory called a timeout. The Lady Jays added a Denise Knippen (11 kills, 4 blocks) block and another Wallenhorst kill for a 23-19 lead. Crestview responded with an ace from Miller and the Jays mis-hit a kill attempt but Wallenhorst found the right corner of the defense to knot the match at 1.
The third made out to be a sloppy game as both teams made quite a few mistakes. With an 8-8 score, a Crestview miscue gave the visitors their first lead and a Reindel kill made it 10-8. The two teams exchanged several errors to 17-15. Crestview picked up kills from Motycka and Miller to tie it at 17 apiece. The squads exchanged points to 19-19. Lichtensteiger and Miller landed kills. A Crestview bad serve shortened their lead to 21-20. Crestview came right back on a Delphos error, followed by a Lichtensteiger block, giving them the advantage they needed at 23-20. An Ashley Jettinghoff (junior; 9 kills, 7 digs) kill got the guests within two. After the teams traded points, the Jays scored on two Reindel kills to reduce the deficit to 24-23. Just like the game started, Delphos made a serving error to give Crestview a 2-1 advantage in the match.
The fourth was a barn-burner all the way to a 15-15 tie as Crestview got great back row play from junior Melissa Eickholt, as she scored 16 digs total, while the Jays were aided by kills from Reindel and D. Knippen. Crestview ran off 3 straight points on Lichtensteiger kills and a Morgan Hicks (senior; 3 kills, 10 digs, 2 aces) ace for a 17-15 lead. The two exchanged points until a 20-20 draw. The hosts closed on a 5-1 run behind kills from Motycka and Hicks, with Motycka finishing the Jays off on a kill.
“Too many mistakes to beat a good team like Crestview on their home court,” added Cook.
The Jays host Coldwater 6 p.m. Tuesday.
“Morgan really did a good job setting up our outside hitters with good sets,” added Gregory of her senior who chalked up 20 assists.
In the JV contest, St. John’s improved its record in winning in two games, 26-24, 25-13.

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