Craig, W-D top Patriots (09/22/06)

GASTON - Wherever Nikki Craig went, the score followed.

When the Wes-Del junior captain was on the front row, her Warriors generally made a run. And when she moved to the defense, it was Jay County's chance to fight back.

But Craig proved too much for the Patriot volleyball team Thursday as she carried Wes-Del to a 25-22, 25-20, 25-19 victory.

"The girls knew that," said JCHS coach Fred Medler, his Patriots having lost to Wes-Del 25-12, 21-25, 25-19 at the Noblesville Invitational Sept. 9. "If (Craig) is in the front row, we have got to make it tough for the setter to get the ball out there. The only thing is, she's on the outside and that's the easiest place to set. ... that's where you set any ball that's a problem, and she's good enough to bail them out. And she did."

Jay County's Sara Westgerdes picked up a kill on the first point of the match, but Craig quickly served notice. She blasted kills on finish each of the next three points.

Craig continued to control the match, coming up with three kills in a 7-0 run to lead her team from a five-point, game-one deficit to a 17-15 lead. One of her match-high 24 kills finished game two, and she had a run of three kills in five points to push her team's two-point lead in the third game to 22-15.

She finished with an amazing .714 hitting percentage and also shared the Wes-Del team high of five digs.

"(Craig) has been carrying us for most of the season," said Wes-Del coach Stewart Peck, whose team is now 8-12 with a pair of wins over the Patriots. "She has her ups and downs ... but she was hot tonight.

"She's an all-state type of player, and at times we lean on her."

Setters Kasi Townsend and Sara Henry just kept sending the ball Craig's way, finishing with 21 and 15 assists respectively. Another junior captain, Lauren Jones, was second on the team with six kills.

Henry matched Craig's five digs, and Jentry Stephens added four digs. AnneMarie Buennagel had three blocks and three aces, and Jones finished with four aces.

Despite Craig's dominance for the Warriors, who have no seniors, Jay County (10-13) was in each game.

The visiting team had leads of 15-10 and 22-20 before giving up the final five points of the first game.

It had a 9-7 advantage and never trailed by more than five points in the second, and led 11-9 in the third before Wes-Del finished the match on a 16-6 run.

"We were right there and then, we talked in the locker room, experience showed up," said Medler. "We go to double block and they see it so they tip ... and our defense behind it doesn't read it. We get what we want out of them and we're just not quite there.

"It was all kind of little things that are the experience part of the game that just gets them over the hump ... We were right there within striking distance or even in the lead up to 15 or 20, and then it slid away from us."

Shelby Rines shared the Patriot team-high of eight points with Sharon Dirksen. Rines also had seven digs, three aces and a pair of kills.

Theresa Reinhart finished with 12 digs and three kills. Erica Clark had 14 assists, Sarah Mescher totaled five kills and Sara Westgerdes had three blocks.

Junior varsity

Jay County had a big comeback in the first game and a big lead in the second, but lost 25-19, 25-22 to the Warriors.

The Patriots trailed by 12 in the opening game before Kelci Reed served seven straight points, including two aces, to pull them to within 22-18. But that was as far as the comeback got as Wes-Del finished its opening victory with an ace.

Jay County pushed in front in the second game, going up 16-8 after back-to-back Reed aces followed by a call for Wes-Del being out of rotation. However, the Warriors came right back to tie the match at 17 and finished the match in two games.

Reed had 10 points, including the four aces, and two digs to lead the Patriots. Liz Walker finished with three points and two aces.

Kelsey Wood and Amy Alig each had three kills, Becky Muhlenkamp came up with three digs and Amy Powell had a pair of assists.[[In-content Ad]]