Richter-led Lady Vikes top Bailey
Published 11:41 am Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Up 24-23 and needing one point for the match, Warren Central turned to the smallest person in the gym.
At 4-foot-8, Shannon Richter is not your typical volleyball player. But on Monday, she served out the match with an ace as the Lady Vikes beat Bailey Alternative 3-1 (23-25, 25-18, 25-21, 25-23).
Richter, who has played soccer for years, has found a home as a situational server on Warren Central’s first volleyball team.
“I loved to be called in that situation,” Richter said. “I was nervous. I just wanted to get the serve over. I love volleyball. It’s been a real enjoyable experience to be on this team.”
The Lady Vikes (6-7) found themselves down a set after Bailey took advantage of WC’s service errors and two aces from Lulen Mays.
Coach Greg Head made an adjustment, and the Lady Vikes responded with a 25-18 win to even the match at a set apiece.
“We moved some people around and that helped us set up Taylor (Willis) at the net,” Head said. “We also finally started to hit some serves. Bailey had some pretty good, skilled players, and that might have surprised us. But we stepped up after the first set.”
Willis was big in the second set, scoring the last three points on a kill, an ace and a service point. Jazmine Carter had three service aces in the set.
The Lady Vikes took control of the match with a 25-21 win in the third set. Brooke Kistler had five aces and Richter had one, while Hannah Gore had a dig and two aces. Gore’s aces turned a 9-7 advantage into a 12-7 cushion.
Kistler reeled off three in a row later in the set to give WC a 16-9 lead.
Kills by Jazmine Carter and Sherrell Kelly brought WC to within set point at 24-21. A service fault by Bailey ended the set for WC.
Bailey bounced back behind return errors from the Lady Vikes to go up 10-5. If the Lady Knights could have won the fourth set, a fifth set tiebreaker to 15 points would have been needed.
Instead, WC rallied as a kill and an ace from Willis was followed by a kill from Kistler, an ace by Gore and a dig point from Carter to make it 12-10. A block by Carter and two aces from Sharenna Smith tied the set at 13.
Down 16-14, WC came back again with Kistler getting a kill to set up April Mayfield’s serve. Mayfield reeled off three points to put WC ahead 19-16.