Budding stars…Versailles’ Kiley May (foreground) and Marion’s Grace Moeller (in blue) combined for 38 kills in Thursday’s 3-1 Versailles’ win. (Press Pros Feature Photos by Julie McMaken Wright)
As energy-packed and entertaining as you could want, Versailles made a statement on both the present and the future with a MAC-concluding win over #5 Marion Local.
Versailles, OH – One must never assume an outcome in sports, regardless of record or ranking – the justification for the well-known adage about…why you play the game.
Because, on any given night in sports, and in the Midwest Athletic Conference, in particular, a young team as gifted as Versailles (11-10) can seize motivation enough to beat anyone in a league that features four of the top-10 rated teams in Division VI and Division VII volleyball.
If you scoff, consider that the only set that #1-ranked Coldwater lost all year was to Versailles, three weeks ago, on September 17.
And if you shrug over a set, instead of the match itself, consider the manner in which Versailles took down #5 state-ranked Marion Local Thursday night – 25-23,19-25, 25-18 and 25-22 – to claim their eleventh win of the season.
Publisher and editor Sonny Fulks writes the Buckeyes and OHSAA sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
Liz McNeilan’s Tigers hustled, communicated, and outplayed Marion Local repeatedly. But mostly, they fed super-sophomore Kiley May with one set after another on her way to 24 kills in an energy-infused win.
“It was fun,” said the quiet-spoken May, afterwards. “We had a lot of energy and our defense was great. The sets were great, but having that defense behind me was a difference. I couldn’t have done it without them.”
May is truly a star-in-the-making, one of the brightest young talents in the MAC as a sophomore, and already capable of playing beyond her years for her ability to deliver big things in big moments. She led all scorers Thursday night with 24 kills.
Ironically, she was matched against another star-in-the-making, Marion Local junior Grace Moeller, who opposing teams make no bones about limiting her opportunities to score and be an impact. Moeller had her moments, but ended the match with 14 kills.
Soph0more Kiley May offers up one of her ten kills in the first set of Thursday’s win over Marion Local.
May took little time in warming to the task. Like an object of perpetual motion, she got involved early in the first set, scoring four of the Tigers first ten points, and finished with a flourish to pace Versailles with 10 kills for the set, and a 25-23 win.
In comparison, Moeller had 4 kills for Marion in the same set, a fact to consider by match’s end.
Moeller would become more of an impact in the second set, when she again led the Flyers with 4 kills, but just as much a force at the net where the Marion block took center stage, stymieing the Versailles offense repeatedly, creating momentum for the Flyers’ offense, and the competitive will necessary to finally take a 17-16 lead after Versailles had led, 16-12. Moeller and Marion would hold off the Tigers for an eventual 25-19.
Versailles rebounded to jump out to a 10-5 lead in the third, only to see Marion roar back with a 10-5 run to tie at 15-15. But again, May and company would use their own 5-1 run to retake the lead at 20-16, then cruise to a 25-18 win.
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The motivation was clear for Versailles. After losing to #1 Coldwater, #2 New Bremen, and #3 St. Henry, they clearly set their sights on #5 Marion Local to conclude their regular season MAC schedule.
“Absolutely,” said McNeilan. “We had a lot of fun playing tonight and we talked about our purpose earlier in the week. We talked about roles, and how we could best prepare for the tournament. And give credit to our bench. They’re driven, they have energy…and then our fans. You get fired up with that, and volleyball is such a game of momentum. We had the momentum on our side tonight, it helped us with a point or two, and we’ll take it.”
Versailles energy on offense made Marion Local scramble on defense (above).
But Marion is athletic, and good, deserving of state-wide recognition – a handful for the unsuspecting in next week’s Division VI district round. The Flyers captured enough early momentum in the fourth to overcome an early Versailles lead, tie at 15-15, and then take a brief 17-15 lead. But they couldn’t stymie May and the Tigers, who came back to tie at 18, at 19, at 20. And then, following a thunderous kill by May, Versailles retook the lead at 21-20, caught their breath at 24-22 after May’s 24th kill, before winning the set and the match, 25-22.
Kiley May called the win everything you could ask for to prepare for the tournament.
“It is,” McNeilan agreed. “And Marion is one of those neighboring schools that we have a ton of respect for. We were down to them 15-5 a couple of years ago and came back to win. We talked about that in the locker room. We handled tonight like a rivalry game, but every match in the MAC is a rivalry match. It’s kudos to all the coaches because they do so much [to build and promote volleyball], and I’m so proud to be a part of it.
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“And after playing those teams I think the girls are battling, they’ve learned a lot about themselves, and how they are as athletes and competitors. I think we’re growing as a team, we’ve played through a lot of injuries – the outside things that are beyond volleyball. They’ve handled it well and now we’ll take it one game at a time. The momentum is on our side, the energy is on our side, and we have the skill and talent to pull us through.”
The defense helped….Ava Shardo leans to save a point during Versailles’ 3-1 win over Marion Local Thursday night.
One could make the point about the outcome…that Versailles simply set Kiley May more often than Marion did Grace Moeller, who finished with 14 kills.
“Absolutely,” smiled McNeilan. “Kiley just had that drive in her eyes, she was smiling, she was diving, she made a heckuva save twice on defense…she was 110% all night. One of the seniors said, “keep feeding Kiley”, and that’s exactly what we did. She took advantage of the shots we called for her, and I think she kept them on their heels, defensively.”
Versailles will conclude its regular season with another high-profile test when they host undefeated Tipp City (ranked #10, Division III) on Saturday. Tipp, by the way, has outdone Coldwater in this respect…in their 21 wins so far the Red Devils have not lost a set – 63 consecutive sets won.
And Coldwater’s only set loss was, of course…to Versailles.
So, one last enormous challenge for McNeilan, May, and the Tigers, and one more chance to spoil a perfect season.
Who knows….?
On any given night…..!
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