McConnellsburg voleys by JB

October 16, 2000

McConnellsburg volleys by JB

By DAN KAUFFMAN / Staff Writer

MCCONNELLSBURG, Pa. - It doesn't always matter how you win, as long as you win.

Despite its 16-14, 15-6 victory over No. 10 James Buchanan on Monday, McConnellsburg volleyball coach Greg Hays knows his No. 6 Spartans weren't at full speed.

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"We played 16 games (in the Bellwood-Antis tournament) this weekend," Hays said. "I had the girls loosen up early ... I knew James Buchanan would come over the mountain and play strong."

In fact, it looked early on that the Rockets may be all McConnellsburg could handle.

JB (10-4) erased a 5-3 deficit in Game 1 by scoring seven straight points, the final four on Abby Stoner's serve, to take a 10-5 lead. Stoner had six kills and five service points in the game.

"We started out aggressive," Rockets coach Erica Piper said. "But when we got up 10-5, we mentally let up and stopped focusing."

McConnellsburg (12-1) cut the deficit to 10-8 on three service points from Kyla Seville, and eventually tied the game at 11-11.

The Rockets scored the next two points for 13-11 lead, but the Spartans took the next three points before JB tied the game again at 14-14. But McConnellsburg won the final two points, the last on Elaina Paruch's kill.

"For as many times as we made mistakes, we were lucky we didn't dig ourselves a hole too deep," Hays said.

The Spartans made sure there was no hole to climb out of in Game 2, building a 13-3 lead and putting the match on ice.

Niki Chesnut had 10 assists and seven service points to lead McConnellsburg. Jade Anthony had six kills and five blocks, Seville had five service points and five kills, Erica Culler had five service points and four kills, Paruch had six service points and five kills and Heidi Swope added six assists.

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