SHELBY — Hesperia had to escape two game points to earn a game one win over Holton during Monday's pre-district match, but once the Panthers fought their way out of that deficit, they turned on the jets and dominated in a sweep, 28-26, 25-8, 25-16.
The clear turning point of the match was that first game, in which Holton rallied from a six-point deficit to take a 24-22 lead, setting itself up for a game point. However, the Red Devils committed a service error, and Hesperia's Sarissa Conkle delivered a clutch kill to tie the game at 24 and put her team ahead with an ace on the next serve. The Panthers never trailed again. Olivia Gerard fired an ace to break a 26-26 tie, and Jeri Ward delivered the game-winning kill.
Coach Erin Redinger-Rottier gave credit to her team for bouncing back from the difficult spot in the opener and showing self-determination.
"The team was pretty self-driven tonight, which
I've been trying to work towards the last half of the season," Redinger-Rottier said. "If they don't want it, then there's not much I can do from the
sidelines. They got a couple breaks there at the end
of that first set, and they took that momentum and rode it into that second set, and they didn't really let up, which
is good to see."
Hesperia left no doubt the remainder of the night. Emily McCallum went on a serving run to start game two, giving the Panthers a 5-0 lead. Hesperia later led 11-2 and 17-5, never allowing the Red Devils to threaten. Game three wasn't much different; Hesperia led 6-1 and cruised to the victory.
Serving was solid all night for Hesperia, with many more aces than errors.
Hesperia's Emily McCallum lines up a set as teammate Madesyn Bolles looks on during Monday's pre-district match against Holton. The Panthers won, 3-0.
"I've been trying to get them to look at the
other team and try to pick apart where they feel their weaknesses are," Redinger-Rottier said. "I feel like they finally honed in on that tonight,
and it paid off. We were working on a certain
type of serve and placing our serves."
Conkle is only a junior, but her leadership of the team has been evident throughout the season, no more clearly than when the Panthers needed some big attacks late in game one. Her kill and ace late in game one were instrumental to the comeback, and she also ended game two with an ace.
Redinger-Rottier said the team has worked on leadership exercises with Conkle, and the junior star said her motivation in the big moments is to deliver for her teammates.
"I really don't want to let anyone
down, so at some points, if we're up, I'll try to swing and (hit it
hard), but sometimes I really try to play smart and
place the ball where I know we'll get kills," Conkle said. "Some teams leave the
middles open, and that's usually where to go if you don't want to swing
and miss."
With the win, the Panthers moved on to face West Michigan Conference Rivers champion North Muskegon in the district semifinals. Conkle said her team believes it can win. With the team's growth over the course of the season, the Panthers are aiming high.
"I think their understanding of strategy of the game has gone up exponentially and
then just being able to execute those skills in tough situations," Redinger-Rottier said. "They've started to become more relaxed in situations like that. That's where I've seen growth the most."
