Things couldn’t have started much worse for Polk County volleyball on Tuesday night.
They ended up more than ok.
A staggering first-game comeback, a stumble in game two, and two straight wins to put it away all added up to a 3-1 (26-24, 19-25, 25-18, 25-18) win over R-S Central.
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The Wolverines were in trouble from the very start in game one. Seeming more than a little out-of-sorts, they fell behind 9-1 and eventually trailed 12-2. But they slowly began to crawl back into the game.
A small run on Reeve Carroll’s service, including an ace, trimmed the lead to 12-7. A kill by Elena Greve tucked just inside the line for another crucial point. Akeela Cunningham hit a cross-court winner, Carroll had another ace and Beija Olivari added a kill in a big run that cut it to 21-19.
R-S Central went on a run that pushed Polk County to the brink, taking a 24-20 lead. But the Wildcats held off four straight game points, tying it on Cunningham’s kill at 24-all. She put two more away, giving the Wolverines an improbable game one win.
“We started slow, and we got into that huge hole,” Polk County coach Molly Hill said. “I told them we had to fight for that first game so we could take some momentum into game two. I was proud of them. That’s hard to do. That kind of comeback doesn’t happen a lot. I was proud of the way they stepped up.”
The huge comeback resulted in something of a hangover in game two. Trailing 13-11, the Hilltoppers reeled off a 14-6 run to take the game.
“We kind of hit a wall, and I told them that,” Hill said. “They looked tired and discouraged, and we made some mistakes and got stuck in serve recieve. At that point you have to get to the mindset of fix it and side out, and we kind of got stuck in our sorrows a little bit.”
That was all R-S Central would get. Polk County (3-1) finished with a flourish, building leads and cruising to identical 25-18 victories to decide the match.
“I really feel like we had good control in games three and four,” Hill said. “We kept the ball on our side, we sided-out quicker, and that’s important.”
Cunningham was especially good down the stretch in the deciding fourth game, with three aces in a row and two kills in the late stages. She finished the night with 12 kills, 14 digs and three aces.
“She got us the points in game one, and she’s just solid,” Hill said. “Everybody kind of depends on her and looks to her to be a leader. She’ll dive on the back row and she’s not afraid of it, and on the front row she’s one of our best hitters.”
Carroll had eight aces to go with 23 digs and five assists on the night.
“Reeve’s stepping up,” Hill said. “She’s still learning some position stuff for libero and left back vs. middle back and rotational and perimeters and this and that. It’s a lot when you’ve never done it. I’m throwing a lot at her, but she’s absorbing it and she’s getting better every day.”
Olivari had 13 kills to lead the Wolverines. Charley Dusenbury finished with 18 digs, 13 assists and seven kills.
