Wolverines edge Knights, move to regional semifinals

Through 29 matches, East Mills had not played a single five set match all season.

Fremont-Mills changed all that in its Class 1A, Region 3 clash last Tuesday in Malvern.

The Knights, who had lost two straight to the same Wolverines, challenged every hit and dug up seemingly every shot while taking a 2-1 set lead before East Mills battled back for a 28-26, 22-25, 24-26, 25-20, 15-5 thrilling victory before a raucous, report-estimated crowd of 500.

The fact it was the Knights that forced five sets came as no surprise to East Mills coach Connie Blank. These two teams know each other well.

“Our hats are off to F-M because that was a great match,” Blank said. “They came ready to play and they did a great job. Just a great match.”

East Mills (23-7) faced  East Union (13-13) in Monday’s regional quarterfinal back in Malvern. Results of that match were not available as of publication. See the next edition of The Opinion-Tribune for full coverage.

Against Fremont-Mills, the Wolverines led throughout the first set and led 20-15 before the Knights used a 6-0 run and then took a 24-23 lead. But East Mills responded and slipped by with a 28-26 win.
It would be a sign of things to come.

After winning set two 25-22, and then rallying from a 24-18 deficit to pull out an unlikely 26-24 win in third set, the Knights appeared to be on the verge of an upset of the Class 1A, No. 10 ranked Wolverines.

But East Mills would respond. Trailing 18-16, Blank called a timeout and implored her team to be more aggressive. And they responded. The Wolverines rattled off nine of the next 11 points and tied the match up with Kaylor Horgdal’s clever looping shot behind the Knight defense.

Sensing the shift in momentum, the Wolverines came out attacking from the opening serve in game five. After knotting the score at 3-3, they rattled off 10 straight points – four on kills by Alex Knop – before the Knights could stop the bleeding. After brief F-M run, the Wolverines finished the match and the Knights’ season on Knop’s sixth kill of the set.

Fremont-Mills coach Tracy Malcom said that fourth set was a big turning point for the match. Her team never quite recovered in the fifth.

“We let up in that fifth set,” Malcom said. “They got a couple points and it just seemed to trickle down. We couldn’t pass. It was one thing after another. And unfortunately we couldn’t pull it off.”

Blank thought started slow – as they tend to do, she said – but pulled together late in that fourth set and showed the kind of team they are in the fifth and deciding set.

“The girls knew they could do, they just finally put it all together,” Blank said. “They finally got some blocks up there and passed the ball better and put the ball down.”

Knop was huge for the Wolverines all night. She finished with 27 kills and added 16 digs, two blocks and served a perfect 17-for-17.

“She wanted the ball and she was putting it down,” Blank said.

For the game, East Mills had 67 kills and hit at a .284 clip. Rachel Drake added 16 kills, Horgdal 10 and Emily Williams nine. Dezirae Drake dished up 53 set assists.

Rachel Wietzki had 18 kills and Lydia Alley 12 to lead a 56-kill Fremont-Mills’ attack.

The Knights’ defense scrapped and clawed all night, never making it easy for the Wolverines. Malcom said after the match her team was as prepared for this match as any all season.

“We told our girls we had nothing to lose and to leave it all out on the court tonight and they did that,” Malcom said. “I could not be happier with their performance tonight. They really, really stepped it up against a great East Mills team. We were super close but we just fell a little short.”

Fremont-Mills closes the season with a record of 9-10. Seven seniors graduate from this year’s squad that played pivotal roles the last four years. All will be sorely missed, Malcom said.

“We’re going to lose a lot,” Malcom said. “But they’re not only great volleyball players, they’re great ladies inside and out. I couldn’t ask for better girls to represent our program.”
 

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