COLFAX — In the words of Colfax-Mingo volleyball coach Brian Warrick, “Passing.” That’s where the Tigerhawks came up short in their three-set loss to Roland Story on Thursday night.
“It’s a short answer,” Warrick said with a chuckle. “But we struggled with passing the ball. They had a couple of hitters, but they also made some mistakes. The problem is we did’t pass the ball up and made more mistakes.”
Those mistakes are what led to a short night of volleyball atop the hill in Colfax. The Tigerhawks fell 25-8, 25-11 and 25-12.
Colfax-Mingo got behind by two points in the first set befor a tip over the net by junior Rhylee Thompson got the Tigerhawks on the board. A kill on a push by Anna Baldwin made the score 3-2, but the Norse went on a tear from then on, scoring five straight points, and Warrick called a timeout.
Shortly after the timeout, the Norse lead swelled to 10-3, until a long serve but the ball back in the hands of C-M. R-S took back control of the set after a spike, taking a 17-6 advantage. The set ended after a dig by the Tigerhawks hit the ceiling, forcing some confusion until the ball hit the floor.
Thompson kicked off the second set with an ace for the Tigerhawks, but a Norse spike on the next point tied things up at one. Baldwin blocked a ball at the net, giving C-M a 2-1 edge. That was the last lead C-M would have during the set, though. At 3-3, the Norse rolled to seven straight points, forcing Warrick to take another timeout.
C-M seemed to respond to the timeout, initially by taking two straight points, but a couple of side-outs made it 12-5 R-S. The next serve sailed long, giving the ball back to C-M. Amy Russell hit an ace to pull within six, but the Norse strung together an 8-1 run to pull ahead 21-8. Dakota Brodka’s kill would be the final Tigerhawk point of the set, as they lost 25-11.
Roland-Story started the third set on a 6-1 run, but a long serve and a side-out made it 8-3. A few spikes later, it was 11-3 Norse. That run continued until a ball into the net gave control back to C-M at 13-4. A few points later, the Tigerhawks had pulled within six points at 14-8, but the Norse put away five straight points, and won the set 25-12 on a spike by senior Anna Himan.
Warric was dissapointed with the loss, but he was happy with the girls’ willingness to take instruction during the match and adjust accordingly.
“I think most of the girls reacted to coaching well, as far as taking instruction. That was positive,” he said. “They all listened and did the stuff we were telling them to do. That was definitely a positive.”
With that being said, he also reemphasized the team’s need to work on its passing, and it was clear that today’s practice would use that as its theme.
“We’ll be working on lots of passing tomorrow, lots of passing,” Warrick said.