Lady Tigers pick up 14th consecutive win

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GALION — The Galion Lady Tigers volleyball team welcomed the Northmor Lady Golden Knights to their home gymnasium on Monday evening to take part in their annual Volley For The Cure game and festivities.

Entering the contest, the two squads found themselves on very different paths as Northmor has had a very up and down season while Galion came in with 13-straight victories, having not lost a single set since their 3-2 loss to Watterson all the way back on August 28.

Keeping with those trends, Galion would handle Northmor in three sets on Monday; 25-14, 25-17, 25-14. The victory moves the Lady Tigers to 17-1 overall on the season, including a 10-0 mark in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference play. For Northmor, they fall to 9-7 overall and currently sit at 6-3 in a top-heavy, Knox-Morrow Athletic Conference.

Galion set the pace from the opening serve as Samantha Comer threw down a kill to begin the Tigers’ scoring. A pair of aces from Kayla Hardy would stretch the home team’s lead to 3-0 before Kerrigan Myers spiked home point number four. Northmor’s Leslie Brubaker was able to stop the mini-run by Galion with a kill of her own but the Knights would only be able to cut the lead to 4-2. Thanks to two more aces in the set for the Tigers, they would eventually stretch their lead to 19-11, forcing head coach Kara Wright to take a timeout. Jaden Ivy would record the 25th point of the set on a kill to give Galion the 1-0 match advantage.

In the second set, Comer would once again start the Tigers’ scoring before Northmor was able to tie the set at 1-1, the first tie of the contest. However, a pair of aces from Nicole Thomas put Galion further ahead at 5-1 before the Knights found the scoreboard again. The visitors would eventually cut the lead to four points at 10-6 and eventually 15-14 before a Galion timeout. Out of the breather, Galion appeared to be revitalized, with Ivy picking up an ace during the Tigers’ 10-3 run to wrap the second set.

With just one potential set remaining, Kayla Hardy began the third with an ace. The set would then see two ties (1-1, 2-2) before the Lady Golden Knights took their first lead of the evening at 3-2, kick-starting a back and forth third. After a 3-3 tie, Thomas served up another ace to regain the lead for the home team but a few points later, Brubaker netted an ace to tie things up again at 5-5. Galion would hold the lead but not for long as the two teams found themselves tied up yet again, this time at 7-7. That is when Northmor would take their second lead, only to lose it at 9-8. For the next few points, the teams would trade-off aces until eventually being knotted up; 11-11. The Lady Knights took what would prove to be their final lead at 12-11 before relinquishing the advantage back to Galion at 14-13. Despite one last tie at 14-14, Galion’s serving prowess would prove too strong as, in their final 11 points of the evening, Hardy recorded three more aces and Comer ended the third set and match as she began it to give Galion the win.

Notable statistics for the visiting Lady Golden Knights on Monday: Brubaker- 9 kills, 2 blocks, 1 ace; Lexi Wenger- 4 kills; Julianne Kincaid- 3 kills, 6 digs, 7/7 serving; Macy Miracle- 2 kills, 15 assists, 9 digs; Reagan Swihart- 8/8 serving, 1 ace; Megan Adkins- 1 ace and Abby Donner- 5 digs.

As a team, the Galion Lady Tigers recorded 39 kills on 34 assists, 42 digs, seven blocks and went a remarkable 71/75 serving that led to 49 points on 14 aces.

Hardy finished at 24/25 at the service line, picking up 21 points and racking up eight aces while also serving as the primary ball handler and earning 32 assists. Comer led the kills category with 13 while Thomas collected 10 digs. Comer, Taylor Keeran, Ivy and Gillian Miller all recorded two blocks apiece in the statement victory.

The Tigers and the Knights were both back at it their respective leagues on Tuesday as Galion hosted Shelby and Northmor hosted Cardington. In that matchup, Galion had the potential to claim outright, MOAC championship honors. The Lady Tigers will host the second-place Ontario Lady Warriors on Wednesday while Northmor has a home conference game against Danville on Thursday and a non-conference clash with the Crestview Lady Cougars on Saturday.

Photo courtesy of Erin Miller Gillian Miller goes in for a kill attempt during Monday evening’s Volley For The Cure contest against the visiting Northmor Lady Golden Knights. The Galion Lady Tigers had no issues with their guests, sweeping the match in three sets to improve to 17-1 overall.
https://www.galioninquirer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/38/2019/10/web1_Gillian-Miller.jpgPhoto courtesy of Erin Miller Gillian Miller goes in for a kill attempt during Monday evening’s Volley For The Cure contest against the visiting Northmor Lady Golden Knights. The Galion Lady Tigers had no issues with their guests, sweeping the match in three sets to improve to 17-1 overall.

By Chad Clinger

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Follow Chad on Twitter @GalionSportsGuy

Reach Chad at 419-468-1117 x2048

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