MILLBURY — This has been one exceptional week for the Lake volleyball team.
On Saturday, the Flyers won Perrysburg’s eight-team Black and Gold Tournament, which included four state ranked-teams, giving Lake a boost in the state coaches’ poll to sixth in Division II.
“It was a huge win,” Lake coach Amy Vorst said. “Winning that Block and Gold Tournament was huge, and we were playing against really good competition. Beating Perrysburg and then Liberty-Benton was insane.
“I’m very proud of the girls. We came in there hoping to get second or hoping to go 2-1, and when they went 3-0 it was phenomenal.”
On Thursday Lake moved one step closer to securing a Northern Buckeye Conference championship by defeating visiting Eastwood 25-14, 20-25, 25-16, 25-10.
In three of four sets, the Eagles had very little answer, losing by a combined 35 points in those three sets. Eastwood coach Sarah Frank said even her best hitters had trouble getting anything past the Flyers’ defense.
“They just have a very talented defense, and we have a very talented offense,” Frank said. “We just came up a little short with taking cuts and shots to the right locations.”
Lake remains undefeated at 18-0 overall and 10-0 in the Northern Buckeye Conference while Eastwood drops to 13-3 and 8-2. Lake junior setter Vayda Delventhal was a force on offense and defense.
“It was great,” said Delventhal. “Our team is on top right now and we are really proving it to a lot of people. We’re working really hard as a team.”
Lake junior setter Taryn DeWese led Lake with 22 kills, setting the tone in the second and third sets with a combined 16 kills.
DeWese stands near 6 feet tall, but she is not the tallest player on the team. You would know that after seeing her leaping ability.
“It’s ridiculous,” Vorst said. “She has one of the highest verticals in the gym and she has a very high volleyball IQ. She has been playing volleyball for a long time and it shows.”
Lake senior middle blocker Ella Vorst, who is well above 6 feet tall, set the tone in the first set with eight kills and finished with 13.
The 5-4 Delventhal did more than she had to, getting seven kills despite being more than a half foot shorter.
Digs and assists come naturally for Delventhal, but her kills can be just as explosive. Delventhalsaid those kills were the result of well-executed set ups.
“It comes up with a lot of teamwork, obviously great passers and great setters,” Delventhal said.
Vorst added, “She played out of her mind. She played so well. She ran the offense, she’s getting more confident swinging on the ball, and she plays amazing defense.”
Even though Lake won by big margins in the three sets they won, Eastwood seemed to have the Flyers figured out in the second set, winning by five points, and they evened the match at one game apiece.
The Eagles were going for the hard kill versus placing shots, and it was working.
“They have a great, great defense that picks up a lot of digs, so we knew that we would have to run a quick offense and we would have to swing,” Frank said.
Vorst said the second set has been an issue for her team all season.
“I’m telling you overall, we drop a lot on the second set,” Vorst said. “If you look at our scores throughout the season, the second set is where we struggle. That is like a mental thing that we must get over.
“We came back and proved ourselves in the third and fourth, but I don’t know. It’s a momentum switch and that is something we need to work on.”
For Lake, senior Zoe Ager had six kills and two aces, including aces on the final two points of the fourth set to win the match.
Lake sophomore middle blocker Keira Magers had five kills, and junior libero Sydney Stanley and senior outside hitter Skyler Foster had two aces apiece.
Eastwood 6-3 sophomore Lilly Mulholland led the Eagles with 12 kills, including five in the second set, and three blocks.
Eastwood 5-11 outside hitter Addison Hartman had 10 kills, including six in the second set, and two aces.
Nadia Miller, a 5-11 junior middle hitter, had seven kills and two blocks, and junior libero Joelle Jared had four aces for the Eagles.
