STOW: Nervous smiles and laughter emerged from the Stow volleyball huddle as the Bulldogs prepared to face the rival Hudson Explorers in the fifth and deciding set Tuesday night.
The host Bulldogs easily won the first two sets 25-11 and 25-16, but the Explorers rallied to win the next two sets 25-22 and 25-17.
Stow coach Miguel Ramirez and his assistants, Ashley Robinson and Corey Verchio, instructed their players not to panic and stay positive.
Junior Megan Garrison and her teammates responded by staying calm, having fun and winning the final set 15-13 in a Northeast Ohio Conference Lake Division match.
“A win is a win is a win,” Ramirez said. “I’m not terribly happy with the match and how we played. Hudson is a division opponent. They are a good young team, and they are only going to get better. That is what concerns me.
“I think we battled. We are at a point right now where we are still looking for leadership on the floor, and I think we found a little bit during Game 5 today.”
Garrison finished with 19 kills, including five in the final set. She had three kills in a row to turn a 8-6 deficit into a 9-8 lead.
“I just knew that we needed a push and to get as many points in a row as we could,” Garrison said. “We didn’t want them to get points and get us down. We wanted to stay up.”
Ramirez praised Garrison for stepping up in the final minutes.
“I have been trying to talk to Megan a lot this season [and tell her] that she is the go-to when we are in trouble,” Ramirez said. “She brings so much pace to the ball. She was lighting people up, but she is still young in terms of her experience. She got a little taste last year, and now this year she is playing all the time. There is a learning curve for her.”
Seniors Lexi Stefanov and Erin Mundorf also hit double-digits in kills for Stow (7-2, 3-0) with 13 and 11, respectively.
“I think we are used to high-pressure situations, so we just came out and really came together as a team,” Stefanov said. “We had to battle, have energy and we just went for it.”
Stow senior setter Kelly Vitt totaled 45 assists and provided stability in the middle of the court.
“I have some experience from games past, so I wasn’t nervous, but it is hard sometimes with the younger players because they are not used to under-pressure situations,” Vitt said. “My job is to try to keep the team up, try to make the smartest set possible and keep the team going.”
Junior Allyson Iwanski (15 digs) and senior Jordan Adlesic (four service aces) were also key for Stow along with junior Kelsie Hengle and senior Kristen Misbrener.
“It is our goal to do really well in our division,” said Mundorf, who also had 11 digs. “We are working hard and focusing on winning as many games as we can, especially league ones. We want to pull together because we have a lot of talent this year.”
Sophomore Kristen Mummey (six kills) and freshman Jordan Mackay (five kills) paced Hudson (5-4, 1-1) at the net with juniors Amanda Bedell, Sarah Faust and Katherine Frank. Junior Erin Dunlap (33 assists) and senior Emma Bock (27 digs) also contributed in the Explorers’ attack.
“A loss is a loss, but I feel that we played very, very tough throughout the whole match,” Hudson coach Jessica Pompei said. “We have been teaching the girls the true game of volleyball and to keep playing tough throughout the match, and that is what they did. I think [when] we play Stow again, we beat them. I think we need to stay positive. Although we didn’t play well the first two games, we really came back and played tough the last three games.”
