October 6, 2017 at 4:14 a.m.
Stars win ACAC tourney title
South Adams beats Jay County, Heritage on way to championship
Stars win ACAC tourney title
Copyright 2017, The Commercial Review
All Rights Reserved
MONROEVILLE — The Starfires had to battle against Jay County in the semifinal.
The host Patriots put up little fight in the final.
The South Adams High School volleyball team outlasted Jay County in three sets and then blew past the Heritage Patriots in the final Thursday in winning the Allen County Athletic Conference tournament championship.
“I don’t even know,” Madi Wurtser, a SAHS senior, said about how it felt to get the win after losing to both Heritage and Jay County in five sets during the regular season. “I actually kind of knew deep down that we were going to win but I didn’t want to say it.
“It was great. It was awesome.”
South Adams (21-9) needed three sets to beat Jay County (25-18, 21-25, 25-23) before dismantling Heritage (25-12, 25-14).
Addie Wanner, another senior Starfire, said both wins Thursday gave South Adams a bit of redemption.
“We did not let that thought leave our mind,” she said. Heritage swept South Adams in last year’s tournament final. “In the locker room I was giving them a talk to hype them up. We really wanted to redeem our embarrassing loss last year.”
It is the first ACAC tournament championship for South Adams in two decades.
“It means a ton because they know what they are capable of and it was great to see them come out with confidence and execute,” said Starfire coach Ashley Buckingham, whose team let the mission known from the start as it got the first five points against Heritage in both sets. “We’ve been working hard. A lot of volleyball is being able to overcome adversity and I felt like this was a hurdle that they needed to overcome.”
Julia Grabau had three aces during the 5-0 run to start the opening set, and Addie Wanner tallied two kills and a block to start set two. Grabau finished with a match-high four aces as the Starfires recorded eight aces in all.
But it was a combination of the Starfire defense — especially its serve reception — and the Patriots’ inability to serve at times that helped South Adams build its lead. The Starfires were able to limit the damage done by Heritage’s top attacker, Maggie Castleman, as the Patriot sophomore only had seven kills.
Getting Heritage out of sync on offense was crucial in the Starfires dominating the title match.
“That was key for us,” Buckingham said. “When they got the serve (we) didn’t let them run on us. That is a big thing. Our serve receive did a good job of getting the ball up so we were able to get the first pass.”
Wurster, who has committed to play for IPFW, led all players with eight kills. But it was her supporting cast, including Wanner, which proved to be too much trouble for Heritage.
“Addie did a great job and that was huge for us,” Buckingham said. “All six rotations, when you’re able to put the ball away it changes things. Shaelynn (Bowman) did a great job of getting kills. Jade (Farlow) did a great job of getting kills. Lydia (Loshe) would fly in there.
“Having Addie and Madi doing their job frees up the other hitters.”
South Adams built a 17-8 lead, and once it was out front 20-10 Heritage never got closer than 10 points.
The Starfires jumped out to a 15-4 advantage in the second set before Heritage rattled off three straight points, the longest such stretch of consecutive points it got in the title match. South Adams had a 5-1 run to take a commanding 20-8 lead and never looked back.
The relatively smooth sailing in against Heritage was the complete opposite of the effort it took to get past Jay County (18-8). After falling behind 5-3 in the set one, South Adams went on a 7-1 run to lead 10-6. The Patriots, who defeated South Adams in Berne on Sept. 19, got as close as two points twice but weren’t able to retake the lead.
Jay County and South Adams went back and forth for the first four points of the second set, but back-to-back blocks from Kaelyn Weaver and Natalie Miles put the Patriots out front, a lead they never relinquished. South Adams later tied the set at 18 but Jay County ultimately won to force a third set.
The decisive final set was a dogfight as it was tied on 10 different occasions. South Adams was out front 24-20 before a rare service error, a Weaver kill and an SAHS attack error got the Patriots within one.
But an attack error by Jay County marked an end to their tournament run.
“We didn’t come with our A game at all tonight,” JCHS coach Fred Medler said. “Our passers weren’t as strong as we have been.”
“Jay County played a great game,” Buckingham said. “It was two tough teams playing each other as hard as they could. It was exciting. It was fun.”
All Rights Reserved
MONROEVILLE — The Starfires had to battle against Jay County in the semifinal.
The host Patriots put up little fight in the final.
The South Adams High School volleyball team outlasted Jay County in three sets and then blew past the Heritage Patriots in the final Thursday in winning the Allen County Athletic Conference tournament championship.
“I don’t even know,” Madi Wurtser, a SAHS senior, said about how it felt to get the win after losing to both Heritage and Jay County in five sets during the regular season. “I actually kind of knew deep down that we were going to win but I didn’t want to say it.
“It was great. It was awesome.”
South Adams (21-9) needed three sets to beat Jay County (25-18, 21-25, 25-23) before dismantling Heritage (25-12, 25-14).
Addie Wanner, another senior Starfire, said both wins Thursday gave South Adams a bit of redemption.
“We did not let that thought leave our mind,” she said. Heritage swept South Adams in last year’s tournament final. “In the locker room I was giving them a talk to hype them up. We really wanted to redeem our embarrassing loss last year.”
It is the first ACAC tournament championship for South Adams in two decades.
“It means a ton because they know what they are capable of and it was great to see them come out with confidence and execute,” said Starfire coach Ashley Buckingham, whose team let the mission known from the start as it got the first five points against Heritage in both sets. “We’ve been working hard. A lot of volleyball is being able to overcome adversity and I felt like this was a hurdle that they needed to overcome.”
Julia Grabau had three aces during the 5-0 run to start the opening set, and Addie Wanner tallied two kills and a block to start set two. Grabau finished with a match-high four aces as the Starfires recorded eight aces in all.
But it was a combination of the Starfire defense — especially its serve reception — and the Patriots’ inability to serve at times that helped South Adams build its lead. The Starfires were able to limit the damage done by Heritage’s top attacker, Maggie Castleman, as the Patriot sophomore only had seven kills.
Getting Heritage out of sync on offense was crucial in the Starfires dominating the title match.
“That was key for us,” Buckingham said. “When they got the serve (we) didn’t let them run on us. That is a big thing. Our serve receive did a good job of getting the ball up so we were able to get the first pass.”
Wurster, who has committed to play for IPFW, led all players with eight kills. But it was her supporting cast, including Wanner, which proved to be too much trouble for Heritage.
“Addie did a great job and that was huge for us,” Buckingham said. “All six rotations, when you’re able to put the ball away it changes things. Shaelynn (Bowman) did a great job of getting kills. Jade (Farlow) did a great job of getting kills. Lydia (Loshe) would fly in there.
“Having Addie and Madi doing their job frees up the other hitters.”
South Adams built a 17-8 lead, and once it was out front 20-10 Heritage never got closer than 10 points.
The Starfires jumped out to a 15-4 advantage in the second set before Heritage rattled off three straight points, the longest such stretch of consecutive points it got in the title match. South Adams had a 5-1 run to take a commanding 20-8 lead and never looked back.
The relatively smooth sailing in against Heritage was the complete opposite of the effort it took to get past Jay County (18-8). After falling behind 5-3 in the set one, South Adams went on a 7-1 run to lead 10-6. The Patriots, who defeated South Adams in Berne on Sept. 19, got as close as two points twice but weren’t able to retake the lead.
Jay County and South Adams went back and forth for the first four points of the second set, but back-to-back blocks from Kaelyn Weaver and Natalie Miles put the Patriots out front, a lead they never relinquished. South Adams later tied the set at 18 but Jay County ultimately won to force a third set.
The decisive final set was a dogfight as it was tied on 10 different occasions. South Adams was out front 24-20 before a rare service error, a Weaver kill and an SAHS attack error got the Patriots within one.
But an attack error by Jay County marked an end to their tournament run.
“We didn’t come with our A game at all tonight,” JCHS coach Fred Medler said. “Our passers weren’t as strong as we have been.”
“Jay County played a great game,” Buckingham said. “It was two tough teams playing each other as hard as they could. It was exciting. It was fun.”
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