Sports

Eagles down Panthers in five-set thriller

By Tyler Ohmann

10/08/2013

The Newburg-Westhope (NW) Eagles liked the south side of the court last Thursday night.

The Eagles took down District 11 rival Rugby in a five-set struggle, thanks in part to a coin toss.

NW won sets one and three (while playing on the south side) 25-20 and 25-16. The Panthers won sets two and four (while they were on the south side) 25-13 and 25-12.

So, when the Eagles’ captain Lauren Mach won the toss, it was pretty clear what side she was going to choose.

It worked too, as NW gutted out a 15-12 win to earn their second district win of the season.

“It was working for us tonight,” said Eagles head coach Katie Fluhrer about playing on the south side of the court. “It was a good call by Lauren (Mach), she did what she needed to do to get us a win.”

Mach, who had a team-best seven blocks and added eight kills and two aces, was excited for the win.

“It’s so exciting for us,” Mach said. “It was a big win.”
She too thought the south side was working for them.
“It seemed like that at least,” she said.

However, that wasn’t the only thing that she thought was why they were able to win the first, third and fifth sets.

“After we lost in that second and fourth match, we just knew we had to come out hot and keep trying no matter what,” Mach said.

Junior Paige Stratton had a strong night as well as she slammed home a team-best nine kills. Senior Ashlyn Huber added team-highs in digs (24) and aces (four) in the big win.

Allison Volk had eight aces and 24 assists in the losing effort for the Panthers.

“We struggle when we get down, so I told them we have to get out ahead of the other team,” Fluhrer said about the win against Rugby.

It also taught them a lesson about what they need to do when behind.

“We have to keep playing no matter what, if we get down, we have to keep pushing no matter what,” Mach said.

The win felt like it was a long time coming for the Eagles, who narrowly took a set from the first place Bottineau Stars last Tuesday, and then lost to Towner-Granville-Upham (TGU) in a tight match last Tuesday.

“I think it made us realize that we can play with other teams,” Fluhrer said about recent matches. “I think we’re at the level of every team in our district right now, so I think it helped for the girls to realize that we’re right up there with them.”

In that match against TGU the Eagles were swept by the Titans, but the sweep didn’t show how tight the match was.

The Eagles were right with the Titans in the first two sets as they lost 26-24 in both of them. The Titans then won 25-17 in set three to earn the sweep.

Closing out matches and falling behind to opponents early has been one of the biggest struggles for the Eagles this season.
Molly Lodoen led the Eagles in the loss with 11 digs, two kills and nine assists.

Halle Khalifa had a pair of aces.

Mattie Schmitt led the Titans with eight kills, four aces and three digs.

The close loss certainly gave the Eagles the confidence they needed in order to get the win on Thursday according to their coach. The win, in turn, gave them more confidence as the playoffs draw nearer.

“It will help us going into districts for sure,” Mach said.

Her coach agrees that they need to utilize the win.

“These girls need to take this win right now,” Fluhrer said. “These girls needed this win right now. Our  record is not so hot right now, so this meant a lot.”

That record is 5-11 and 2-2 in district play.

Up next for NW is another district match-up as they travel to Drake to take on Drake-Anamoose tonight. They then host Velva on

Thursday, and travel to Rolla to play in a tournament on Saturday.