CAMDEN — The Twin Valley South volleyball team faced off against Preble Shawnee and Northwestern on Saturday, Sept. 24, winning both matches after losing to Miami East on Thursday.
Against the host Lady Arrows, TVS won 25-19, 16-25, 25-20, in a hotly contested game.
The first game saw many tied scores as both teams battled at the net for dominance. Neither team held a large lead until late in the first set when the Lady Panthers pulled away for the first win.
In the second set, South took an early 4-1 lead, but a rally by Shawnee tied the score up 5-5. Within moments, TVS took back the lead but it was short-lived as the Arrows tied the score at 14-14.
From there, the Arrows ran off six straight points and held on for the win.
But the third set belonged to South, despite the team being down early, 4-2. Several scoring streaks occurred as Shawnee tried to rally back, but TVS never relinquished the lead again, and closed out the win.
“It’s always good to get a Preble County rivalry win,” said TVS coach Leslie Roberts. “We didn’t shoot ourselves in the foot this time and we were able to change to an alternative lineup after the second set to win the game.”
Mylan Crews led the Lady Panthers with nine kills, 11 assists, eight digs and an ace. Senior teammates Delaney Adams, Abby Beneke, Emma Fergus and Madison Wright had a stellar match as well. Adams went 11 of 12 on serve receive with 10 digs and four kills. Beneke turned in yet another solid performance, leading the assist category with 12, 10 digs and eight kills. Fergus stepped up and turned in “an all-round awesome performance,” according to Roberts, especially in set three, where she charted an ace, went four-for-four on serve receive, and had six digs and five kills.
Wright remained “clutch” according to Roberts, with two aces, 25-of-28 on serve receive and 10 digs. Audrey Chesney chipped in with four aces, two digs and three kills.
“We gave them quite a fight, but the two sets we lost, we made too many errors, which you simply cannot do against such a good Twin Valley South team,” said PS coach Kristy Cottingim.
In the afternoon match, TVS defeated Springfield Northwestern in straight sets, 25-21, 25-17.
Abby Bingham stepped up and dished out seven assists with seven digs. Beneke came up with two aces, 16 digs, two assists and nine kills. Crews dished out nine assists, with five digs, two saves and six kills of her own. Adams added two aces and eight digs. Zoe Utsinger came up with a solo block with four blocks kept in play. Fergus chipped in two digs and two kills, while having seven blocks kept in play.
Chesney charted two aces, four digs, two kills and came up with a solo block. Wright tallied 18 digs while going 22-of-23 on serve receive.
“Our front line did a nice job today forcing Northwestern hitters to think about where the block would be,” said Roberts. “Our net play will be crucial come tournament time.” “
“Their (Northwestern’s) hitting errors were their untimely demise,” she added. “We’re extremely happy to come away with this straight-set win.”
South increases its record to 10-3 on the season. The Lady Panthers were scheduled to host Covington on Tuesday, Sept. 27.
