L’Anse volleyball pushes past Chassell in five
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CHASSELL -- It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but coach Mckenna Monticello, of the L’Anse Purple Hornets volleyball squad, isn’t complaining.
"They made it interesting," she said. "I liked how we won points on multiple serves, and our hitters thrived on placing deep balls or a hard kill at the net."
It took five sets for L’Anse to seal a late-season win, 18-25, 25-19, 21-25, 25-15 and 15-6, over the Chassell Panthers.
She added that it was a slow and sloppy in the opening set, even with an ace by Dannii Dantes that put the Purple Hornets up, 6-1. However, with Ellie Kuntze at the line for the Panthers, the Chassell girls got within three at 11-8. Teammate Oriana Olson was on the line with a chance to tie it at 13, and with Sylvia Aho serving an ace, the Panthers went ahead 16-13.
"The game ball goes to Sylvia Allen," noted her coach. "She did everything and more from the service line and her defense was spot on."
In the second set, the Purple Hornets picked up the pace. Good service was key. With MacKenzie Dusincki on the line for the Purple Hornets, the girls in purple and white led 13-7. Teammate Breyelle Bowers pushed the lead to 20-15 and the race was on to 25 points. A kill by Allen put the set away for the L’Anse squad.
Chassell won the third set in a similar style to the first. They were down by as much as six at 9-3, only to come back and tie this one with Hilde Kuntze serving at 11, 12 and 13.
They then took a 15-13 lead with Olson posting an ace at 16 and a service run of five. The Panthers kept up the pace and the offensive charge and earned a 2-1 set lead with a victory.
Set four belonged to the Purple Hornets after a 2-2 knot. With a 10-5 lead, the L’Anse girls swung their way to a 20-14 lead, courtesy of some big swings by Dantes.
She forced a fifth set as the Purple Hornets won the fourth by 10.
"The fifth set was our best," stated Monticello. "We pushed through. We’ve lost some fifth sets in the past, but tonight we were good at carrying out our momentum."
A 5-0 lead posted by L’Anse’s Allen turned into a 10-5 lead and an eventual 15-6 match-point victory for the Purple Hornets.
Next up
The Panthers will travel to Watersmeet Thursday before wrapping up their season next Tuesday against Lake Linden-Hubbell. The Purple Hornets will play West Iron County Wednesday before ending their season at Baraga next Tuesday as well.