By Yaneek Smith
Special to the Tribune
OAK HARBOR — Down 1-0 and playing in a hostile environment, it would’ve been easy for Eastwood to fold in its match with Oak Harbor.
In the second set, the Rockets jumped out to a 4-1 lead and led 12-8 following a kill by Morgan Lalonde.
But after an unforced error by Oak Harbor cut its lead to 12-9, Eastwood sophomore MacKenna Miller had a kill to cut the deficit to two points, and had five more kills during the rest of the set, helping the Eagles win, 25-22, and tying the score, 1-1.
The second set saw Eastwood, which improved to 7-4 and 5-2 in the Northern Buckeye Conference with the win, tie the score at 13 following a kill by Miller. It then took a 16-13 lead on another kill by Miller, and went ahead 18-17 on a kill by Miller.
But Rocket junior Alayna Hall tied the score at 18 with a kill. However, the Eagles finished out the set on a 7-4 run, helped by a kill from Addie Hartman and a block by Lilly Mullholand.
With Oak Harbor (9-2, 5-2) trailing, 23-20, following an unforced error, Rocket sophomore Tatum Baumgartner had two kills, cutting Eastwood’s led to one, but two unforced errors by Oak Harbor ended the set.
The Eagles won the third set in convincing fashion, 25-14, outscoring the Rockets, 17-6, after Hall tied the score at 8 with a kill.
During that rally, Miller and Mullholland came up with some key kills, and Braily Moenter came up with a crucial block and kill.
In the fourth set, Eastwood jumped out to a 4-0 lead and led, 8-4 before Oak Harbor rallied to tie the score at 11 with kills by Hall, Lalonde and Baumgartner keying the spurt.
The teams traded two points apiece to make it 13-13, and the Eagles finished off the set 13-11 to claim victory. During the rally, Mullholand had a kill to give Eastwood the lead for good at 14-13, and Moenter and Ivy Schrader came up with some clutch points to finish out the match.
But it wasn’t without its drama.
The Rockets got two big kills from Baumgartner to cut the deficit to 22-19, and Hall had a block to tie the score at 23, and a kill to tie it up at 24 before a bad serve and a block by Miller ended the match.
“They’re a very competitive team,” Eastwood coach Sarah Frank said of Oak Harbor. “They have some really big hitters. In the third set, we started to gain some confidence, and we saw what their game plan was, and defended it better than in the other sets.”
Miller had 22 kills, three blocks, 13 digs and two aces while Mullholand had 12 kills and eight blocks.
“They’re our pillars on offense,” Frank said. “Lilly was huge on defense for us.”
The Eagles could be finding a groove.
“I’m happy with where we are. We had a slow summer because of some injuries,” said Frank. “We’re starting to get to our full potential, our girls are getting there.”
Gianna Coalson finished with 17 digs, Kyrie Henline had 31 assists and 10 digs and Addie Hartman finished with four kills, two blocks and five aces.
Mullholland talked about the rally.
“I feel like we brought some energy, and were talking, and were celebrating the little things. We were playing as a team instead of as individuals,” she said. “I feel like we were on a roller coaster (before this match). This was a turnaround game. This game will help us in the future and help us excel.”
Oak Harbor coach Kaytlynn Sandwisch gave her take on the match.
“I think we knew going into this match that they are really good. They have some good hitters,” she said. “We lacked the aggressiveness, and we didn’t pick it up as a team.”
Sandwisch is hoping her team can move past this after suffering a tough defeat. The only other loss for the Rockets was a five-set defeat to Lake, the top team in the conference.
Hall finished with 12 kills, Baumgartner had 10 kills, Lalonde finished with 16 digs while Ava Lynch contributed with 25 digs and Laney Schmidt and Bella Rios had 17 assists apiece.
“I’m hoping we acknowledge the loss but then turn the page,” she said. “We’ve got to execute. We have to give ourselves a chance. We had some shaky returns, bad serves, and we can control that.
“We have the potential to be amazing. We just have to find it within ourselves.”
