Lady Wolverines take 3 set sweep over Homedale; lose to Fruitland in 4 sets

The Lady Wolverines hit the road to Homedale last week for a league match-up.
 The Weiser ladies played well and expanded their league record to 2-0 with a 3-set sweep over the Trojans, 25-22, 25-20 and 25-19.
Weiser vs. Fruitland
Sept. 24
 The Lady Wolverines hosted the visiting Fruitland Grizzlies on Thursday in Tom Falash Gymnasium and planned to add to their league winning streak. However, despite some amazing play on the Wolverine side of the court, including scrappy saves, impressive stuff blocks and hard hits, the Wolverines came up a bit short and dropped the match 1-3, (18-25, 25-19. 15-25 and 20-25).
 The Lady Wolverines have proven their skill level on numerous occasions this season and when this young squad is on, they are incredible!  However, when they struggle, it affects the entire team and often takes several points before they can regroup and get back on track.  The match against the Grizzlies was a perfect example of this scenario.
 The Wolverines began the first set with a Toby Noyer stuff block that set the tone for the Wolverines and started them on a battle for dominance in the set. The Wolverines were fighting for every ball and making saves that seemed impossible.  
 They traded points with the Grizzlies throughout the majority of the set and never let any mistakes deter them from their goal.  However, at the 17-17 mark a free ball with too much heat on it, landed out-of-bounds and was followed by a Wolverine hit into the net and a pair of serve receive errors, allowing the Grizzlies to pull ahead 17-21.  
 The Wolverines added one more point to their credit, but their loss of focus late in the set cost them in the 18-25 loss.
 Reagan Doty started off the second set serving for the Wolverines and with the help of a collaborative stuff block between Noyer and Whitney Cordes and both a well-placed tip kill and a hard hit for the kill by Emma Tolman, the Wolverines took the lead 4-0.  Unfortunately, serve receive and communication trouble allowed the Grizzlies to pull even 5-5.  
 The Wolverines battled on defense and stayed within striking distance to 11-14.  A Grizzlies service error opened the door for the Wolverines and they took full advantage of the situation.  
 Macey Buescher started serving for the Wolverines with an ace and a stuff block from Noyer and Jasi Yraguen kept the surge going.  
 Cordes found a hole in the Grizzlies defense with a tip and Danica Lockett tallied a kill with a sneaky tip on the second contact, which prompted a Fruitland time out when the Wolverines pulled ahead 17-14.  
 A wildly aggressive rally with a pair of huge digs by Doty and great coverage by the Wolverines defense had the Wolverines on top 17-15.  The Wolverines faltered slightly, and the Grizzlies pulled within 1-point to 20-19, but a back row kill by Buescher put the momentum back onto the Wolverine side.  
 Yraguen began serving for the Wolverines and an ace serve and kills by both Noyer and Doty enabled the Wolverines to take the set 25-19.
 Despite the excitement of the second set win, the Lady Wolverines struggled to find their previous momentum and found themselves in a 2-10 hole early in the third set.  
 A hard kill from Yraguen put Denica McClellan behind the service line and a series of Grizzlies errors allowed the Wolverines to minimize the scoring deficit to 6-10.  
 Mattie Shirts recorded a nice kill off the block and Lockett added an ace serve, pulling the Wolverines within a mere 1-point, to 11-12.  
 The aggressive play by the Wolverines was back, but even with strong blocking by Noyer, Shirts and Cordes and a kill by Tolman, the Wolverines could not bridge the scoring gap and trailing 14-15, they began to slip further behind.  
 The Grizzlies managed to go on a 9-1 scoring run over the Wolverines to take the third set 15-25.
 The fourth set began with the Lady Wolverines playing as aggressive as I’ve seen them so far this season.  Doty began with consecutive ace serves, while Cordes, Tolman, Shirts and Lockett all found a gap for kills to take an 8-2 lead and cause a Fruitland time out.  Morris was serving at the time and the pause in play didn’t have the desired serve break effect that Fruitland had anticipated, and the Wolverines continued their surge with a beautiful stuff block from Yraguen.  
 The Grizzlies managed to take advantage of a series of Wolverine bobbles and pulled within 3-points to 10-7. A crazy rally that culminated in a hard stuff block of the Fruitland hitter had the Weiser crowd on their feet. However, a lengthy discussion by the officials resulted in a replay, which seemed to shift the momentum in Fruitland’s favor.  
 Shirts and Noyer stuffed a hard Fruitland hit and Cordes found a hole with an off-speed kill.  Unfortunately, some questionable calls added to the momentum issues for the Wolverines.  
 Trailing 15-18, Yraguen had a solo stuff block, but the Wolverines just couldn’t find their way back into a strong offensive position and lost the fourth set 20-25 and the match 1-3.  
 The loss brings the Wolverines’ league record to 2-1 and 3-5 in regular season play.  The Wolverines will host McCall on Thursday, October 1.
 

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