By Nicholas Huenefeld
Special to the Sentinel-Tribune
MILLBURY — The Lake volleyball team overcame a late push from Eastwood on Tuesday, producing a 25-19, 25-18, 22-25, 25-22 win over the Eagles behind a strong performance from their outsides.
With the victory, the Flyers now have sole possession of first place in the NBC standings as the only undefeated team.
“I love that my pins came to play,” Lake head coach Amy Vorst said. “We knew when their setter was in the front row that we had to go to the outside more.
“I thought our kids served aggressively, and I thought we serve-receive-passed well, so I’m very pleased with how they played.”
The outside duo of Laynie Meadows and Sydney Brown led the offensive attack for the Flyers. Meadows had a match-best 18 terminations, while Brown matched Mylah Vorst with 10 kills.
It was an adjustment from how Lake took down Oak Harbor last week with a heavy attack from Mylah Vorst and Keira Magers in the middle.
Meadows and Brown combined for 11 kills in the opening set as Lake overcame a strong start from Eastwood (5-2, 2-1 NBC), which used a pair of kills from Mack Miller to open up a 10-5 lead.
From there, Meadows had three kills on the left side to pull Lake within 11-9. A service run from Savanna Saunders, which included a pair of aces, gave the Flyers a 13-11 lead, and a trio of kills from Brown pushed the margin to 18-15 and forced an Eastwood timeout.
Meadows added two more kills down the stretch as Lake ultimately closed the set on a 20-9 run.
“I’m very glad that those kids (Brown and Meadows) stepped up and did that,” Vorst said. “We knew that (Mack) Miller and (Lilly) Mullholland are big blockers in the middle, so we knew that our pins had to come to play, and they did. That was our game plan going in.”
Meadows had two kills and a pair of aces to open the second as Lake jumped out to a 6-1 lead. A right-side kill and an ace from Miller got Eastwood going, though, and a kill down the middle from Mullholand punctuated an 8-2 run that gave them an 11-10 lead.
The teams then battled back and forth as neither Lake nor Eastwood led by more than a point until Magers sent one down in the middle for an 18-16 advantage for the Flyers.
Lake ultimately closed the set on a 7-1 run, featuring kills from Brown, Caity Extine and Mylah Vorst, as well as aces from Calli Conley and Sydney Marchetto before a block from Extine and Vorst clinched the set.
“We came out ready to go, but it was just a hard night for us,” Eastwood head coach Sarah Frank said. “A couple girls were just not as keyed up as they normally are, just kind of having a rougher night.
“They tried to pull it back in and tried to do the best they could, but we just fell a little short defensively and had a lot of offensive errors we don’t normally have.”
The two heavyweights battled back and forth in the third set, splitting the first 26 points as neither team led by more than two points.
At that point, back-to-back terminations from Miller, as well as an ace from Mullholand gave Eastwood a 16-13 lead, which forced a Lake timeout. An attack sailed out of bounds moments later, which gave the Eagles a 19-15 lead.
A back-row kill from Meadows, however, spurred a 4-0 run for Lake. The two teams then exchanged the next six points, which set up a late run for Eastwood.
Mullholand’s right-side attack and Miller’s left-side termination gave the Eagles a 24-22 lead. Despite a second timeout from Lake, Mullholand closed the set with an ace.
“Four service errors, four off-block passing errors, and then we just weren’t assertive,” Vorst said of the third set. “We didn’t attack as much as we did in the first two. We tell our kids all the time to be assertive, be aggressive. Tipping and rolling should be our third option.”
Lake reclaimed momentum early in the fourth as a kill from Kennedy Falkenberg capped a 6-0 run for an 8-2 lead. The Flyers led by as many as eight on six occasions and held a 24-16 lead.
Four straight points from Eastwood forced a timeout, and back-to-back attack errors out of the break increased the pressure for the Flyers. A termination from Magers in the middle ended the run and the match, however.
“I would say we came out really strong, winning the first two sets,” Meadows said. “I think everyone on the court did their jobs. That third set, we kind of let up a little bit, but we came back and got the job done.
“I think everyone did very well. The outsides realized that we had to step up and give the middles a little bit of a break because of how big of a game they had (against Oak Harbor), and I think everyone dominated and played their roles.”
Marchetto led Lake with 14 digs. Saunders and Lucy Boos added 22 and 20 assists, respectively, and each of them also contributed three aces.
“I was happy with how we played,” Vorst said. “I’m kind of upset we gave up a set. We knew that our off blockers were not committed to that role, and they kept tipping over our block, and our off blockers know that’s their responsibility.
“They fixed it going into the fourth. But that’s something they knew how to do. We just didn’t go when we needed to go.
“Overall, it was a good team effort. My setters did a phenomenal job of locating their blockers and knowing who to set. That was key.”
Miller led Eastwood with 16 kills and 10 digs, while Kyrie Henline had 35 assists and 16 digs.
“I’m happy we came back and fought,” Frank said. “This is always a big rivalry so they really could have gotten down and stayed down, but I’m really happy they came back and took a set.”
Braily Moenter also had four blocks in a new role as middle blocker for Eastwood, and Frank was pleased with her performance.
“I would say this was a little bit of a breakout game for her,” she said. “She also had a couple kills in the middle. We don’t use her a ton, but she was really effective for us tonight, so I was proud of that.”
Meanwhile, Lake (5-1, 3-0 NBC) now sits alone atop the conference.
“This was a good win,” Vorst said. “We needed this. It was a solid win. We’re not overlooking anyone else in the league.
“Fostoria has gotten a lot better. Otsego is ready to play. Rossford is getting better. We’re not overlooking anyone, but we’re excited to get a couple of the top contenders out of the way in the first round of league play.”
