The Northfield and Wabash volleyball teams went the distance Thursday with the Norse defending home turf 14-25, 25-21, 8-25, 25-21, 15-13.
Wabash would dominate game one after trailing early. Down 7-6 the Apaches would get a tip from Jaycee Parrett during a 5-0 run to grab a 12-6 lead, then got kills from Kristin Cromer and Sam Irgang to increase the lead to 16-8. The Norse would take advantage of a few Wabash mishaps to close the gap to 20-14 when the Apaches scored 5 straight to end the game. During the last run Brooke Irgang had a kill and Cromer an ace, 25-14.
The Lady Norse came to life in game two, grabbing a quick 7-2 lead off two Liz Howenstine aces and a kill from Jordan Bratch. Wabash would go to their front line freshman sisters, Sam and Brooke Irgang to close the gap to 11-10, but the Norse wouldn’t give. Paige Holley and Bratch would take the net back as the Norse maintained their small lead until 22-21 when Bratch would end the game with two aces for a 25-21 win and tie the night 1-1.
Game three was tied at 4 when it became all Wabash. The Lady Apaches would get an ace from Kristin Cromer that ignited a 9-0 run to open a 13-4 lead, then go on a 4-0 run and a 5-0 run to lead 22-7. After a Paige Holley kill stopped the run Sam Irgang would score on a tip and an ace to end game three 25-8.
Game four was tight early with Northfield leading 11-9 when it looked as though the Apaches might end the night. Wabash would get a block from Sydni Mullett that led to 6 straight points as the Apaches grabbed a 15-11 lead. At 17-13 the Norse would find a second wind. Down 14-17 Madelyn Dale would score on a tip that started a 8 point run to put the Norse up 21-17. During the run Ava Smith had three aces with Paige Holley collecting a kill. The Apaches could not cut into the lead as the Norse won 25-21 to force a game five.
Northfield would get the early lead in gave five off Wabash turnovers, leading 5-2 when the Apaches righted the ship. Wabash would score 8 of the next 9 points to lead 10-6 when the ship made a u turn. The Norse would go to Holley, who had two kills and an ace, plus got a kill from Jordan Bratch to score 7 of the next 8 points and led 13-11. Wabash would then tie the score off a Mullett kill, but the Norse answered with a tip from Liz Howenstine to go on and win 15-13 and 3-2.
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