Fired-up Grant finally knocks off Warren

The Grant volleyball team was not exactly thrilled with being seeded No. 4 on Wednesday in the four-team Prairie Ridge regional.

Grant took out its frustration Thursday on Warren.

The Bulldogs had designated this as their homecoming match, and they posted a 25-20, 25-18 victory. This was the first time in Sue Thompson's 12 years as coach that Grant defeated the Blue Devils.

"Coach told us about our seed and that got us angry," senior Tori Ziegler said. "We were pumped up to prove that we're a better team than that."

The Bulldogs certainly played that way. Grant jumped to big leads in each of the first two games and was able to control play. This was the third consecutive victory for the Bulldogs (10-14).

Grant had its best blocking match of the season. Senior Bailey Wagner had 4 blocks, and senior Savannah Trevithick added 3 blocks. Each block seemed to motivate the entire team.

"A block is one of the big things that gets us excited," Trevithick said. "If it goes straight down, it's almost an automatic point."

Ziegler led the way with 5 kills. Trevithick and senior Jamie Swanson each had 3 kills.

Warren struggled with its communication at times and never seemed to find its rhythm. Blue Devils coach Julie Filippo said Grant simply played better in just about every phase.

"They're a hard-hitting team, and they blocked everything," she said. "They were scrappy (on defense)."

Grant's defense started to improve recently when Thompson brought up freshman libero Desiree Dace and freshman defensive specialist Rebecca White to the varsity.

"It's been nice to know we have those guys," Thompson said. "They've helped us tremendously, and that's (helped) the other kids pass better."

Thompson also liked the way setters Rachel Mitchell and Janine Fiordirosa ran the offense.

"They did a nice job of mixing it up and getting one-on-one (matchups)," Thompson said.