Keizertimes., April 09, 2021, Page 21, Image 21

APRIL 9, 2021, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A21
Celts fall short against South Salem
BY MATT RAWLINGS
back after scoring eight of the next nine
Of the Keizertimes
points to take a 12-7 lead.
In a showdown featuring the top two
“South made some great saves. That
volleyball teams in the area, McNary didn't was one of the ways they were able to get
bring their A-game on Wednesday, March the momentum,” DeMello said. “In those
31and South Salem took full advantage, instances, we usually dig in and find a
beating the Celtics in straight sets (25-16, string of a good serving or a hot hitter. But
25-19, 25-14).
tonight, we couldn't find that groove.”
“We just couldn't find a rhythm,”
After trailing by as many as eight,
McNary head coach Crystal DeMello said. McNary came back to cut the lead to four at
“South played really well. They put up a 23-19 due to back-to-back kills from Emily
really good block and our hitters struggled Blagg — including one off a tremendous
going around the block. We knew they over-the-head pass from Corpe. But the
would be tough.”
Saxons scored the final two points of the
Through the majority of game one, it set to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
appeared, initially, that both squads were
In the third game, the Celtics fell behind
evenly matched. Junior outside hitter by 10 and couldn't recover. It was the first
Emily Lettenmaier put away a spike, then time this season that McNary lost a set by
served up an ace to put McNary on top 8-7. double-digits. DeMello believes that the
South Salem rallied to score seven of the loss will serve as a learning experience for
next eight points, but McNary responded her younger players — McNary will return
with five straight of their own thanks to seven of their 10 players to the team next
multiple kills by Taylor Ebbs and an ace by fall.
Maddison Corpe.
“Every loss is an opportunity to grow. A
However, a litany of unforced errors by lot of our team is young and some of our
the Celtics allowed the Saxons to rattle off players will use tonight as a benchmark of
10 straight points, giving them first control where they know they want to be,” DeMello
of the opening game.
said.
“The object for
our players is to not
make back-to-back
Every loss is an
errors. Whether it
was your error or your
opportunity to grow.
teammates' error, you
A lot of our team is young
have to cover for each
other. Tonight, it just
and some of our players
seemed to be strings
of errors from differ-
will use tonight as a
ent players,” DeMello
benchmark of where they
said.
McNary also took
know they want to be.
an early lead in
game two, getting
a 6-4 advantage
on a kill from
Corpe. But the
McNary head coach
Saxons gained all
the momentum
— CRYSTAL DEMELLO
South Salem outside hitter Brooksie Isham spikes a shot past McNary middle blocker Emily
Blagg.
Photo by MATT RAWLINGS of Keizertimes