Minster tops Parkway in three sets

ROCKFORD - The Minster volleyball team has a lot of attackers and they know how to use them.

Their nine-game winning streak supports that theory.

By early indications, Tuesday's game at Parkway appeared headed for a full five-set match as Minster got off to a slow start and Parkway led most of the first set.

However, the Wildcats turned the tide of that set with a 9-0 run, winning 25-20, and then went on to post wins of 25-18 and 25-13 to improve to 13-8 on the season.

"I knew they were going to come through. We were very inconsistent at the beginning of the year but we've found that consistency," Minster coach Cami Garman said.

It took them a little while to get going, but once the Wildcats did, they couldn't be stopped. The Panthers jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first set before Minster rallied to even up the score at 6-all. Each time the Wildcats tied the score, though, Parkway found an answer. Jordyn Heitbrink's consecutive kills knotted the score again at 9-all, but then Parkway responded with a 4-0 run, highlighted by Sarah Gehron's kill to take a 13-9 lead.

That Panther run, however, was washed away as the Wildcats embarked on their 9-0 burst, ignited by Paige Thobe's two kills and a block on three straight sequences. Parkway had the deficit down to 23-20 but Heitbrink closed the set with two more kills.

"Once the girls got settled down, started playing a little more disciplined volleyball and started executing, they really did a great job of taking control of the match," Garman said.

The Wildcats led the whole way in set two. What was a 2-3 point advantage early in the set eventually swelled to double digits. Rosie Westerbeck tallied three kills and a block in the final 10 points for Minster to close the set at 25-18.

Minster roared out to a 6-1 lead in set three before Parkway climbed back to trim the lead to one at 9-8. Heitbrink smacked home two kills in a row to push Minster's lead back to three and then two kills by Westerbeck extended the margin to 15-10. Parkway never got closer than four points the rest of the way.

"When things go well, we can make all kinds of plays, do a lot of things," Parkway coach Jeff Marbaugh said. "When things start to not go so well, it kind of just trickles around the court. We need to have some people step up and be leaders and get us back on track. We just don't seem to have that.

"That's what's happened to us in a lot of sets. We'll go out and do a lot of good things and then all of a sudden, we have three or four bad plays."

Westerbeck was the top kill-getter with 13, Heitbrink had 11, Katie Wuebker seven and Thobe six. Hayley Baumer was feeding them all night with 35 assists and LeAnn Huelsman finished with 19 digs.

"If you look at the cumulatives (stats), all of my five attackers are probably within 30-40 kills of each other, and I think that's great," Garman said. "The girls know that if we need somebody to go to, any one of those girls is willing to step up in the moment. I think the girls enjoy that at any moment, anybody can be the superstar. I really think they are enjoying that team aspect."

"We thought they were going to be athletic, hustle, do the things that every MAC team we play does," Marbaugh said. "They have a nice team. They don't count on one person. They move the ball around and they spread the ball out. You've got to get there and pass and block because they have the weapons to do that."

Haley Hawk had a team-high 14 digs for Parkway. Gehron led the way with six kills and added five assists. Clista Hellwarth contributed three kills and eight blocks for the Panthers, who dropped to 10-11 overall. Parkway's regular-season finale is Thursday at New Bremen.

Minster finishes up the regular season at Marion Local on Thursday. Thus far, the Wildcats followed a similar script as they did in 2014. After struggling early this season, the Wildcats have became dangerous. Last year's team got hot at the same time and advanced all the way to the regional semifinal. Garman wants a similar outcome this season.

"I hope so. That's the one thing we talk about - our season is so tough at the beginning of the year," Garman said. "I mean, we start with St. Henry, Fort Loramie, we had the Lehman Invite, Coldwater, New Knoxville ... Our season starts out so tough, and it can be really frustrating when you're not playing your best.

"But when we beat Versailles, that was really a turnaround for these girls. They're really starting to enjoy themselves and enjoy the game."