Ranger Addison McConnell delivered a powerful spike early into the first set, which helped turned the tide in FHC’s first win in set one. Their success proved short-lived later on when they lost the last two sets, ultimately losing 2-1 against the Northview Wildcats.
Coming off the weekend, the Rangers played in a tournament at Grand Haven where they lost in the semi-finals. FHC was looking to bounce back coming into the game against Northview. Kylin Roelfzema had something to say about this.
“After our tournament, we were really determined to work better as a team,” Roelfzema said. “I think once the flaws are etched out, we will win.”
All teams lose key players due to injuries. During the weekend tournament, FHC lost their star outside, Katie Probst, due to a sprained ankle. According to head coach Morgan Fitch, the Rangers had to switch things up heading into their game against Northview.
“Going into the game we had a whole new lineup,” Fitch said. “ Some players are playing totally different positions than they are used to.”
With this in mind, the Rangers were looking to prove they were powerful, even though they weren’t playing their main positions.
FHC did just that in the first set.
Zoe Jordan served to start the game. She got an ace, but Northview responded back with a kill. After that, the lead was not lost. The Rangers scored six straight points, making their lead 7-1. Northview came back a little, eventually scoring a few more points until the score was 13-5. The Rangers ended up winning the set 25-9, allowing only 4 more points for the rest of the match.
During this time, the team’s chemistry and communication were flourishing. Fitch noticed this.
“During the first set our communication was going, energy was moving,” Fitch said. “They played very well as a team the entire time.”
Even though the first set was a definite win for FHC, the Rangers knew that Northview wasn’t going to be an easy team to battle. Roelfzema knew this.
“I knew that the second set was going to be much closer because when we win by a lot that means we’ll start to get cocky,” Roelfzema said. “ When we get cocky we start playing with less aggression and start to lose points that we should not.”
Roelfzema wasn’t wrong.
The second set started with the teams interchanging leads from 5-3 all the way to 5-9. FHC did not stop fighting; they tied the game back up at nine. Once it was tied, the Rangers went on a streak of scoring four straight points, but that was diminished by a block from Northview’s middle. This led to a momentum shift which caused Northview to climb back. The leads kept changing from team to team until the game was tied at 15. Northview kept scoring back-to-back even though the points were broken up by 1-point intervals. During this time communication was struggling. Fitch keyed on the same thing.
“Apart from the first set being perfect, people were getting into their heads,” Fitch said. “ Most of this was due to communication errors.”
When the third set came, the game was not looking pretty. Northview started the set off by scoring four straight points, but then the streak was broken up by Caroline Kendall. She pancaked the ball back up and over the net. That small glimpse of hope was not given in; the Wildcats kept letting their scores build up, just like previously. Northview built this lead all the way up to when the score was 1-8; the Rangers then used their first timeout. The Rangers aimed to hopefully lead themselves back into the game. Avery Blanchard commented on this.
“During the timeout, we really talked about what we needed to work on,” Blanchard said. “We really listened to each other and I think it helped.”
Post timeout, FHC clawed their way back. They got the score all the way back up to 6-8, in which they scored 5 straight points. Northview didn’t let FHC’s impulse let them back into the lead. Northview went on a 9-point run, allowing FHC to score only 3 more times. The Rangers lost 15-9.
All teams need things to work on after a loss. Blanchard made another remark about this.
“After this loss, we learned what we need to work on,” Blanchard said. “ We’ll keep working on our communication and hopefully this new rotation will be working for the following games.”
