Boys volleyball: Lakes thinks small, gets big result
Some baseball teams play small ball.
That's when home runs and extra base hits are deemphasized in favor of singles and bunts that can move runners methodically around the bases one by one.
In volleyball, there is a small ball equivalent. It's when teams are just as happy to dink the ball over the net into strategic places where the opposition has a hole in the defense.
On Wednesday, the Lakes volleyball team played some small ball to get a come-from-behind 23-25, 25-22, 25-13 Northern Lake County Conference win over host Grant.
Lakes moves to 5-9 overall and 2-1 in the NLCC. Grant drops to 1-7 and 0-3 in the league.
"We're not the most athletic team, we're not the biggest team," Lakes coach Kevin Glabowicz said. "We have to play a brand of smarter volleyball. We're not able to really hit the ball down on the 10-foot line like some of the bigger teams are. We've got to hit deeper into the court. We want to keep the ball in play. We have to play fundamentally sound in how we pass and set.
"It's not as flashy, but it gets us more points. We have to play 'small ball.' We have to be scrappier."
Lakes scrapped to get back into the match.
Grant took an early lead by finishing off the first set on a kill by Ian Fox.
But the Bulldogs couldn't keep the momentum going.
Lakes won a tight second set and then slammed the door in a quick third set.
"I think maybe we underestimated (Grant) a little bit in that first set," said Lakes hitter Connor Clowers, who led Lakes with 13 kills, 4 digs and 3 blocks. "I think losing that first set woke us up a little bit and we were able to fight through it and get the wins in the second and third sets.
Ethan Metzelaar added 8 digs and setter Tyler Donovan had 26 assists and 5 digs for the Eagles.
For Grant, Fox had 4 kills and Andrew Ryczek had 3 kills.
"We get really hyped into it at the beginning," Ryczek said. "But then, slowly as the game progresses, we end up losing that hype and losing that composure and energy. We take our foot off the gas.
"But it's little things. And a lot of us are young. And we are still working on our chemistry."
After the game, the Bulldogs had a team spaghetti dinner in the lobby outside the gym to work on their team bonding.
But head coach Michele Keenan wasn't able to attend, just as she wasn't able to attend the game. She was home nursing a head injury with concussion-like symptoms. She was hit in the head by a hard-hit spike over the weekend while she was warming up her team before a tournament game.
"She wanted to be here, but we want her to rest and get well," said Grant assistant coach Chris Carlson, who stepped in for Keenan. "I was hoping I could get a win (for Keenan). But we have a young team. No returning starters from last year. We didn't have a very good Game 2 or Game 3."