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| Panthers come back to top Ogemaw | ||
| Brent Baker | ||
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STANDISH-STERLING - Jan. 27 2005 - The Standish-Sterling volleyball team won its first North East Michigan Conference match in two seasons Thursday with a come-from-behind 19-25, 25-18, 22-25, 25-23, 15-11 gut-wrencher over Ogemaw Heights.
The Panthers, who had to shift their lineup to account for the absence of Leanne Golimbieski, who will miss the rest of the season, received big assists on the front line from Caitlin Luberda and Rachel Hartwick, and strong serving from Meagan Goick to help pull off the upset. “It was an awesome win,” Standish-Sterling coach Wendy Stein said. “It's our first conference win in awhile, so it's a big one. We don't necessarily like to have to play five games like we did tonight, but we'll go them if we can pull them out like this.” It looked early on like the Falcons might have their way as Ogemaw took the first game 25-19 as Lauren Shepardson, Beth Thibault, Kelly Wangler and Sarah Killackey had their way around the net. But SSC bounced back in the second game, partly due to the solid serving of Megan Goick and Inna Chakarova, and partly thanks to a drop in the Falcons' level of play. But the Falcons eked out a 25-22 victory in the third game and took an 8-5 lead in the fourth game behind Wangler's three early kills before the Panthers fought back. Luberda and Hartwick, playing anew position in the Panthers' lineup, stepped up in the in the final part of the game, when SSC bounced back from an 18-15 deficit. Luberda had three blocks, including the final point of the game, while Hartwick had a pair of kills in the rally. In the fifth game, SSC worked its way to a 13-11 lead before Luberda finished the match off with the last two points. “We just moved Rachel to center blocker yesterday,” Stein said. “She really did a good job. Ogemaw had scouted us before and knew our plays, so we had to switch up a bit, too. “I was proud of the way the girls regrouped.” Ogemaw coach Diane Gillette hoped that her team would rebound from the disappointing loss. “I sure hope this is a wake-up call,” she said. “It was a hard one to swallow.” Hartwick had 8 kills, Luberda had 10 blocks, Tara Scholtz had 27 assist and 14 digs, Brittany Riopelle had 26 assists and Goick had 14 points to lead SSC. SSC improved to 1-2 in NEMC play, with Ogemaw dropping to 1-1. |
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