Hounds drop nail-biter to Dragons
JON DYKSTRA/THE FORUM
Maryville senior Bryna Grow passes the ball on Thursday against Cameron in the Hound Pound.
MARYVILLE, Mo. — The first set on Thursday night couldn’t have gone much worse for the Spoofhounds as Cameron rolled to a 25-12 victory and the match began with 3-straight aces.
The young Spoofhounds could have folded with the Dragons looking like a dominant group. But Maryville (7-13-2) responded with three back-and-forth sets, and despite falling in four sets, showed that they have continued to grow.
“Starting the second set, we really focused on controlling our controllables and being disciplined, so that way we can get to the ball easier and know what to do,” Maryville senior setter Bryna Grow said.
In the second set, Cameron (10-6-1) kept its momentum early with a 4-1 lead, but the Spoofhounds responded with kills by sophomore Brylee Acklin, junior Sabryn Lager and senior Ava Dumke to tie the set.
“Sabryn has done a really good job of stepping in and taking some big swings for us,” Maryville coach Alyssa Rezac said. “We are going to do whatever works and that is working right now.”
Lager has been a player with an inconsistent varsity role this season, but was a catalyst in the turnaround on Thursday. Lager’s presence allows Dumke to play in the middle more often and gives the Hounds plenty of versatility.
“Aggressiveness was a big one,” Lager said of the key to getting into the rotation. “She wants to see consistency, so I showed her it.”
An ace by Jalea Price gave Maryville a brief lead, and after the Dragons retook the lead, Lager hammered another kill to spark a 4-0 run. With the Maryville lead at 10-8, sophomore Evelyn Branner got to the service line and had a pair of aces during an 8-0 run where Olivia Stanley had a block and Ellie Willnerd had a kill.
The Spoofhounds coasted to the 25-14 win in the second set to even things back up.
“We had a lot more energy and we limited our unforced errors — that is a huge part of our game right now,” Rezac said.
Cameron got off to another hot start in the third set with an 8-2 lead. Maryville responded with kills from Acklin, Dumke and Claire Nickerson cutting the margin to 11-8.
A Willnerd kill had it at 13-10, but Cameron exploded on a 12-5 run to close the set with a 25-15 win.
The most back-and-forth set came in the fourth with a Grow ace and Stanley block helping the team to a 4-1 lead. A block from Dumke made the lead 10-6 and another kill from the senior captain helped the lead grow to 14-7.
“It is really fun when she gets good kills and is exciting for the team,” Grow said. “It boosts our whole energy.”
A 7-0 Dragon run which included 3-straight aces evened the set at 14-14. Maryville went back in front 18-15, but that was short-lived with 5-0 Cameron run.
A kill from Dumke evened the match at 25-25, but the Dragons closed with the final two points to win the match 3-1 (25-12, 14-25, 25-15, 27-25).
“Overall growing their volleyball IQ,” Rezac said of the emphasis the rest of the season. “Making them more court aware of where they are at, where they can hit the ball, our shot selection, and just expanding their toolbox in different game situations.”
The Spoofhounds are back at home on Monday to host Lafayette. Maryville goes to Savannah on Thursday.
“We are starting to become a team and starting to learn how we play together,” Lager said.
