Sophomore Kiley May offers up one of her twelve kills in the 3-0 win over Celina. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
No one’s made much of them, yet, but the Versailles Tigers are quietly putting themselves in the conversation as being one of the area’s big surprises in volleyball.
Versailles, OH – Their coach, Liz McNeilan, wore a happy smile Tuesday following the Versailles Tigers’ 3-0 sweep in non-conference play over Celina (25-19, 25-21, and 25-19).
Happy over a win? Of course.
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But more, McNeilan is witnessing a day-by-day improvement of a volleyball program that over the summer was on the back burner in the conversation about who would dominate in Divisions V, VI and VII volleyball this fall. Winners over Russia Saturday in four sets, the young Tigers won, despite showing a few warts.
Taylor Wagner delivers a point through Celina’s block attempt during Tuesday’s 3-0 Versailles win.
And good volleyball teams can do that. McNeilan said as much following that win, ” Our offense was a little bit off today…but the girls found a way to win and I appreciate that.
Tuesday they took another step, played better, demonstrated athleticism, another degree of maturity, and that intrinsic joy of playing when the game is challenging, but fun. And Celina, despite a 1-4 record, was challenging.
In fact, Versailles rode the hitting of sophomore Kiley May in the first set of a see-saw start…before breaking away at 14-12 to eventually put the set in the books, 25-19. May would finish the match with a dozen kills, but she served notice early that she was going to keep swinging, applying the pressure.
Again in the second, May continued to put on the pressure, despite Celina jumping out to a 4-0 lead. Versailles, and McNeilan, began to selectively serve to specific points on the court. Celina struggled with their serve-receive, allowing Versailles to go on an 8-1 run, highlighted again the booming swing of Kiley May.
Sophomore setter Reagyn Hager has played well in an attempt to earn more time.
At 9-7, Versailles, May hit one to the back row that might have cracked the basketball backboard had it been in the way. Celina answered with a couple of short runs, but the Tigers showed some cool in confidently finishing out the set, 25-21.
Celina got out to an 8-4 lead in the third, only to see Versailles go on a 7-0 run, grab the all-important momentum, and then cruise to a 25-19 win to take the match and stay unbeaten over the past two matches.’
McNeilan can smile because without anyone making any noise about them, she has kids who are playing up to the expectations of the league, and beyond the expectations of those who might have dismissed over the summer…beginning with Kiley May.
“Her offense adds so much of a threat to our team,” said McNeilan. “And she hasn’t even given herself the green light like she needs to. And she plays all the way around for us. She handles herself so well, and her defense is as good as her offense. Her biggest benefit now is that everyone trusts her on the court. And when she figures out some of the other skills she’s going to be a beast. And she already is, so I can’t wait to see what the future holds for her.”
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But they’re also getting a lot of contributions from players like libero Lauren Prenger…stand-in setter Reagyn Hager…and another senior, Taylor Wagner, who’s benefiting from the fact of the sum being greater than the contributions of individual parts.
“And Lauren Prenger is just killing with the way she’s playing the libero position,” adds McNeilan.
So in the span of four days, how much improvement is there since her statement Saturday about getting better with each practice, and each match?
“Well, we switched the lineup again…and we’re going to continue to grow with each match, and I’ve already got our goals for tomorrow’s practice before we play Parkway on Thursday,” she smiled.
“But we’ve got to get better with our transitioning, and getting up in our offense…being quicker. We worked on it yesterday, but we’ll keep working on it. We have to keep working on our setter-hitter connection. I think our serve was much better than Saturday, and the aggressiveness behind the service line gave us so much value in the win tonight.”
Liz likin’ it…smiling over the Tigers’ 3-0 win Tuesday over Celina.
They’re now 5-1, and their only blemish was against Ottawa-Glandorf in the opening match of the Coldwater Spikeoff two weeks ago.
Since then…wins over New Knoxville, St. Marys, Anna, Russia, and Celina.
And while it’s true that those conference games with Coldwater, St. Henry, and New Bremen can burst anyone’s bubble, McNeilan’s Tigers are showing something more than just improvement with each passing match.
Volleyball is a game of runs, and momentum. Do enough of one and the other follows proportionately. It becomes a habit.
A self-fulfilling prophecy.
The more they play…the more they believe they can compete.
Enough to make anyone smile.
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