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Next: vs. S. Newton, 11 a.m. Eastern Saturday
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
KENTLAND — The Caston volleyball team had four set points in the second set of their Class 1A, Sectional 50 quarterfinal against DeMotte Christian at South Newton Tuesday.
They lost the set.
It only seemed to deepen their resolve. Relying on the hitting of Natalie Warner and Callie Salisbury and dual setters Ellie Zartman and Gigi Berry, Caston pulled away in the final two sets to win 25-22, 25-27, 25-18, 25-9 and advance to the sectional semifinals.
Caston also relied on a back row consisting of libero Hadlie Coffing and defensive specialists Ripley Beck and Madi Douglass. Playing with a brace on her right knee, Douglass is back playing after undergoing surgery on a torn right ACL suffered at an AAU basketball practice six months ago.
“I think we really just came together as a team,” Warner said. “We brought the energy that we didn’t have in the second set. We excelled at combining all of our set skills and combining all things together – a good pass, a good set, into a good hit.”
Caston improved to 9-22 and earned a semifinal meeting with South Newton at 11 a.m. Eastern Saturday. They beat DeMotte Christian for the third time this season, including wins in best-of-three matches in tournaments at Tri-County Aug. 29 and Caston Oct. 3.
South Newton beat West Central 25-12, 22-25, 25-19, 25-19 in Tuesday’s other quarterfinal. South Newton is the two-time defending sectional champion. They have won six sectionals in the last seven years.
DeMotte Christian finished 5-21.
“Better than I would have expected,” Caston coach Delonna Logan said of her team’s ability to recover mentally after the second set. “Sometimes we come out a little slow after things like that, but no, they rolled right out and took off, and I was happy with the way they responded after that.”
A Reagan Ber kill, an Ila Dees stuff block and an Amelia Mersch line violation in which she inadvertently fell over the line while trying to keep the ball off the floor erased Caston’s 24-21 lead in Set 2.
A kill from the 5-9 Salisbury off an over pass gave Caston their fourth set point at 25-24, but Warner hit long to make it 25-25. Warner was then called for a line violation to give DeMotte Christian a set point, and Ber ended it with an ace.
DeMotte Christian then jumped out to a 3-1 lead in Set 3. Their momentum wore off with help from a diving dig kill from Zartman, a Lexie Field kill and two service winners from Berry.
Beck was behind the service line for a 5-0 run that pushed the lead to 13-6. Salisbury had a kill and then teamed up with the 6-1 Warner for a stuff block.
“They play with a lot of confidence always,” Logan said of Warner and Salisbury. “They know it. Even when they’re off, they can usually figure that out and try to rein that in a little bit and make some moves that maybe will throw off the defense a little bit when we can.”
DeMotte Christian hung within 18-13, but Warner crushed two kills, and DeMotte Christian was called for an illegal swing. A Warner kill and two Coffing aces capped a 6-1 run to make it 24-14.
Again, Caston could not convert on its first four set points before Field hit a twisting shot off the net that fell on the Lady Knights’ side of the court. Field celebrated as Caston took a 2-1 lead.
Caston then jumped out to a 13-2 lead in the fourth set. The run included a clean ace from Douglass, a Warner lefty tip, a Warner kill, a Warner kill off an overpass, back-to-back aces from Berry, a back row kill from Salisbury, a Berry service winner and a rotation violation on DeMotte Christian.
Another 6-0 run would increase the lead to 20-5. That run included two Beck aces and three Salisbury kills.
The match would end with Warner mashing a kill from the opposite side.
“It does make my job easier,” Warner said of Salisbury’s effectiveness. “The setters need to have an outlet. They can’t go middle or outside all the time. So having Callie as an outside beside me really helps when either our pass might be a little bit off or our sets may be a little bit too far, I have confidence that Callie will be able to compound on something. She has the confidence and the skill and the smartness to be able to find those holes. When I’m not able to get to a ball, I can rely on her that if I don’t get it, she’s going to get it. It makes my job 10 times easier.”
Warner also mentioned the impact of Douglass, who is also her basketball and softball teammate.
Both Warner and Douglass are future college athletes. Warner will attend Bethel for volleyball, and Douglass confirmed with RTC Tuesday that she will attend St. Mary’s for basketball.
“It’s a big one,” Warner said. “I know she’s committed to St. Mary’s for basketball, so volleyball may not be her main sport, but I know she really wanted to be out there. For me, I’m committed to Bethel for volleyball, and being able to have her by my side through senior year even though it’s toward the end, it really helps a lot. She almost takes off some of the pressure.”
Logan said the players accepted Douglass’ return “with open arms.”
“Happy to see her back,” Logan said. “Another positive person on the floor. A key person at times as well and definitely a leader. She’s not just jumping into the role. She’s not aggressively taking it. She’s just that natural leader on the floor, and the girls responded well to that.”
Senior Baylee Harrison was out due to an ankle injury. She was spotted on the bench in a walking boot.
Without Harrison, Berry and Zartman played all six rotations.
