MONTAGUE — It doesn't get much closer than Tuesday's West Michigan Conference Lakes battle in Montague, where the first three games were decided by the minimum two points before visiting Ludington was able to pull away somewhat and edge the Wildcats, 25-23, 24-26, 25-23, 25-19.
It was the Wildcats' Pink Out night in support of cancer research, which brought donations and a good crowd to the Montague arena. Coach Gretchen Schneider said it was a good preview of what to expect when the Wildcats host the district tournament in November - and it also taught some lessons.
Notably, Schneider felt the players got caught up in the atmosphere a bit and played at a faster tempo than they're comfortable with, which played into the hands of the Orioles.
"You've got to play your game, and I noticed quite often in a few of the
sets, the tempo picked up to their speed," Schneider said. "That's not a tempo that we're
comfortable with. We like it at a
slower tempo. I asked the girls to slow it down, and they
didn't. They tried to, but I don't know if they just haven't had the
experience yet of controlling the game themselves. A lot of
times they want to see how the opponent is going to play, and then they
play
to that tempo, and you just can't do that."
Montague (6-15-1, 2-2 WMC Lakes) got off to quick starts in each of the first three games, sparked by some very good serving. The team's game plan was to serve more conservatively than usual, Schneider said, knowing the match was likely to be close.
"In games like this, I don't want them to really place a serve," Schneider said. "There's
900 square feet over there. Serve the ball in and
let our defense work. If you're going to serve the
ball out of bounds, it gives them one point, and it gives them the ball.
It does nothing for us. In close games when you're down by two points,
you miss five serves, that's the whole game."
Abbi Tallquist helped build an early 10-3 lead for the 'Cats in game one, and Emalee McGee added to it later, putting Montague up as many as 10 points. However, Ludington stormed back, taking advantage of a strong block and some Montague miscues to steal the opener.
Montague's Reagan Cederquist (2) and Annelyse Schneider leap for a block attempt against Ludington's Madilyn Lynn during Tuesday's match at Montague. The Wildcats lost, 3-1.
Undeterred, the 'Cats raced out to another lead early in game two; this time it was Saige Perales at the service line as Montague went ahead 13-7. Again Ludington came back, and Oriole server Lilly Slater delivered three aces in a row at one point. The game was tied at 21, 23 and 24 before a pair of Ludington errors gave Montague the win and tied the match at a game each.
"I give it to the team," Schneider said. "They did a fantastic job staying with
them. I think that Ludington and us are pretty evenly matched. It was
almost who made the fewest serving areas (was going to win)."
Game three wasn't much different than the first two, with the Wildcats going ahead (5-1), Ludington coming back, and the two teams battling down the stretch. Montague led 21-15 and 23-22, but the Orioles scored consecutive aces and a block to win. Ludington then led throughout game four.
The Wildcats put a lot of effort into the close match, and Schneider said her team left everything on the court - physically and mentally. McGee in particular saw a lot of action from her setter spot, not just from her usual duties, but also by facing some high-speed Oriole attacks. She was hit in the face at least twice with kill attempts from Ludington, but was never fazed.
"I think that they're spent right now," Schneider said. "They had to overcome some mental hurdles
tonight just to stay with them. I think they did that quite well, so that's an improvement that we've been working on, to
stay positive, stay in the games, don't give it up."
The Wildcats plan to work on controlling the tempo of matches, Schneider said, as the team looks to maximize its potential down the stretch of the regular season - any way it can.
"(I'll) see if I can do a little research and find some drills that might help
with that," Schneider said, referring to tempo. "It was definitely on the mental side a little bit. We're
trying to get there. We're working on the pieces and the parts - the
physical, the mental and even the spiritual at times."
Tallquist and McGee each had four aces for Montague, and Gentry Knop posted 28 digs. Annelyse Schneider had six blocks, and Reagan Cederquist chipped in seven kills.
