Text by The News Herald/ Doug Roorbach–
The first two points of the match set the tone. Mississinewa Lady Indians senior Sarah Osborne put two sets ball right in the middle of the net and her teammates planted both deep in the hardwood in the middle of the court.
Ole Miss sprinted out to a 16-4 lead on its way to a 25-12 win in set one, followed quickly by 25-6 and 25-16 sets and an easy 3-0 win over Marion last Thursday night.
“We had a big loss on Tuesday [to Alexandria],” said Mississinewa Head Coach Rachel Roesch, “so tonight was a good night for them to come back and get comfortable.
“They’re a tight-knit group,” she added, “They like to have fun. They make every game fun, and that’s what it’s all about in high school athletics.”
Roesch was less enthusiastic about the team’s efforts in the third set, where they clearly played a bit sloppy.
“That’s been a struggle, finishing,” said Roesch, “That’s something that we will continue to work on, finishing strong.”
Marion played without two of its starters, Andrea Persinger, who is out with an ankle sprain, and Jenna Mauller, who had concussion symptoms.
That said, Marion Head Coach Dale Gearheart was disappointed with his team’s showing. “We don’t play to our potential,” he said.
“We got some good digs,” he said, singling out Leilanu Jackson for her efforts.
Roesch agreed, saying: “Marion was doing a good job digging…I think they’re on the upswing, I really do.”
Both coaches noted that despite good efforts on blocking and digging, the Giants were not technically proficient.
“Our biggest problem is passing,” said Gearheart, “If we can’t get the ball to our setter, we can’t do what we need to do.”
To order photos email: info@grantcountysportsnetwork.com with the ID code under photo and game information.
