Local Sports
Monday, November 16, 2009
East squads score sweep in Boosters' All-Star matches
SPORTS EDITOR
Girls who play in the Fostoria Athletic Boosters' East-West All-Star Volleyball Matches routinely enjoy joining forces with those against whom they normally compete.
Members of the Division IV East squad found an extra little benefit: They didn't have to receive the high-velocity jump serve of Hopewell-Loudon's Brianna Richey.
"It's quite terrifying," said Taylor Burns, who spent plenty of time across the net from Richey while playing for St. Wendelin in Midland Athletic League competition but got to team up with her in Sunday night's all-star play at Fostoria High School.
Richey served for eight aces in two games while helping the East rally for a 19-25, 25-15, 25-13 win in the Division IV match.
With each match scheduled for three sets, the event became an East sweep in the Divisions I-II-III match by a 25-21, 25-22, 24-26 count.
Burns said she's teamed up with Richey in club volleyball in the past, as well as with some of the others on the East all-stars.
"It wasn't awkward," she said. "It was easy to talk to them. It was a lot of fun, though, to kind of unite as one league."
Richey, an honorable mention All-Ohio selection who helped the Lady Chieftains advance to this year's state tournament, had a stint of four consecutive aces early in the third set as the East ran out to a 6-0 lead. She added three more aces later in the set as the East pulled away.
Riverdale's 6-foot-1 Amanda Wetherill played a dominant role at the net as the West erased a 4-2 deficit and took the first set.
The West led 5-3 in the second set before three kills by Seneca East's Lauren Phillips and two by Burns sent the East to an 8-5 lead. Three West errors, a kill apiece by Burns and Phillips and a Richey block helped the East take command at 14-7 on its way to taking the game.
For Fostoria High School's Melanie Nye, the contest brought one more match on her home floor and a victory as part of the East squad.
"It was fun," she said. "All these girls are really good. It was interesting to meet and play with them all and meshing with them."
Nye even had a role-reversal kill in the third game. The Lady Red setter put one away after getting the ball from Tiffin Columbian hitter Jill Stein.
The teams battled to a 21-21 tie in the first set before the East finished things off. The last point came on a tap by Nye.
A spate of East errors helped the West claim an 8-3 lead in the second game. The East, however, bounced back for an 11-11 tie and went ahead for good as Gibsonburg's Samantha Burgoon served for back-to-back aces.
Stein, who signed a national letter of intent to play basketball at Bowling Green State University last week, smacked a kill to give the East a 5-1 lead in the third set before the West went ahead 8-7 and the teams stayed close the rest of the way.
The West led 24-22 before an ace by Columbian's Lexie Rohrbach and a kill by Oak Harbor's Abby Zurvalec forged a 24-24 tie. Findlay's Krystan Krucki and Bowling Green's Paige Devriendt then belted kills to give the West its only set victory.
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Ph: (419) 435-6641 • Fax: (419) 435-9073
113 E. Center St. • P.O. Box 947
Fostoria, OH 44830
The Findlay Publishing Company
P.O. Box 609
Findlay, OH 45839-0609
Phone: (419) 422-5151
www.findlaypublishing.com
Please read our privacy guidelines
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