By Garth Shanklin
Sports Editor
Two perennial Southern Buckeye Athletic and Academic Conference powers met in Owensville on Sept. 7 for a non-conference matchup that, while only three sets, was packed with action.
All three sets were close battles, with Clermont Northeastern using a late run to win the first set 25-22.
Amelia head coach Dan Coyne said the team made too many errors in the set, which allowed the Lady Rockets to escape with the close victory.
“We had some unforced errors,” Coyne said. “We’re working on our defense, talking, getting down on defense and things like that. We’re a young team, we’re growing. We’re going to get better, we are getting better. They’re a good team, they made some great plays. We’ll be OK.”
On the other side, CNE head coach Emma Keough said the team’s composure helped them pull out the close win in set one.
“They just stayed really composed and played together,” Keough said. “That’s the best I’ve seen us play together and [play] physical volleyball.”
The second set didn’t start well for CNE. Amelia jumped out to a large lead, but the Lady Rockets slowly chipped away until the Lady Barons were left clinging to a 22-21 lead. That’s when things got weird.
During a rally between the two squads, a CNE player mis-hit the ball, sending it into the ceiling. The play was blown dead by the referee, which sparked a conversation between Keough and the other official.
A replay would be awarded after Keough successfully argued the Lady Rockets had a chance at playing the ball, but the whistle cost them that opportunity.
As an official headed over to Coyne to explain the decision, Amelia served the ball. The serve was long, giving the Lady Rockets the ball back. CNE scored three straight points to win the set 25-22.
After the match, Coyne said he wasn’t sure what happened, and while he believed the serve shouldn’t have counted, he wasn’t sure it directly led to the Lady Barons’ defeat.
“It’s over now, but it was clearly unfortunate for us,” Coyne said. “I don’t know if it cost us the game or not, but it certainly didn’t help us.”
Keough, meanwhile, was proud of how her team was able to pull themselves out of the hole early on and win the set.
“We’ve been in this habit of kind of digging ourselves in a hole, and they like to fight back,” Keough said. “I was really proud of the fact that they did fight back in that one.”
The third set was nearly a mirror image of the first. The two teams battled and Amelia kept things interesting, but CNE pulled away late, winning the third set 25-21 and the match 3-0. Coyne said the team’s youth showed again, as the team made more errors that did not help their cause.
Keough said the Lady Rockets have been focusing on their own score, not the score of their opponent, in order to maintain focus.
“We’ve been really focusing on our score rather than what they’re doing, and I think that made a positive impact on us,” Keough said.
Keough also credited two of the team’s captains, seniors Moran Schweiger and Katherine Kelley, as players who have made a positive impact on the team’s leadership.
“I think we have some leadership on the court,” Keough said. “Katherine Kelly and Morgan Schweiger, our senior captains are keeping everyone composed and doing their job and playing their game, and that helped us be successful tonight.”
Amelia, meanwhile, will continue hoping for a youthful squad to gain experience. The team starts a pair of freshmen setters as well as a sophomore middle hitter. The team had plenty of chances last week to improve on the court.
“We’ve had matches Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week, then two matches Saturday,” Coyne said. “There’s not much we can do except keep it positive. I see lots of positive things happening, we just have to keep working.”
In addition to the match against the Lady Rockets, Amelia visited Goshen, where they lost a four-set contest 9-25, 25-22, 11-25, 20-25. The team then defeated Batavia at home 26-24, 25-13, 10-2, 25-17 before sweeping the two matches against Eastern Brown and Georgetown by scores of 25-12, 25-22 and 24-26, 25-18, 26-24, respectively.
After their victory over the Lady Barons, Clermont Northeastern added another win one day later on Sept. 8 against Georgetown. The team then dropped a non-conference battle against Indian Hill 21-25, 26-24, 19-25 and 12-25. Keough said she hopes the team can continue to improve throughout the rest of the season.
“Continuing to get better every game,” Keough said. “We played some tough competition right off the bat and struggled with our record, so I think building confidence in them so they believe they are able to beat teams like that and that we are a good team.”
The Lady Rockets visit Norwood for a non-league battle on Thursday, Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. Amelia travels to Bethel-Tate High School for a contest against the Lady Tigers on Sept. 15 at 6:30 p.m.