Red Devil volleyball squad stays even in tournament

Sports

September 9, 2013 - 12:00 AM

HIGHLAND — A weekend filled with success, drawbacks and plenty of challenges has Allen Community College in a familiar place on the young 2013 season — at .500.
The Red Devils went 2-2 at the Highland Invitational Tournament, losing heartbreakers to Southwestern College and Cloud, but winning thrillers against Pratt and Longview.
“We were able to ruffle some feathers and make our presence known,” ACC head coach Jessica Peters said.
The roller-coaster ride began Friday with a rough patch, a 25-18, 25-23, 27-25 loss to Southwestern.
“We had opportunities to take the lead, but chose to play along,” Peters said, noting the Red Devils struggled when Southwestern tipped the ball at the net instead of taking full swings.
Sidney Keith led the Red Devils with 16 kills and 17 points, while Adriee Munoz had 16 assists. Sarah Charbonneau and Keith had 13 and 10 digs, respectively.
Allen’s struggles continued early in the next match against Pratt, dropping the first set, 25-15 and prompting Peters to make a few lineup adjustments.
“Ashlyn Meyers came in for us and did an excellent job running a successful offense.”
While the Red Devils dropped the second set, 25-17, the momentum had shifted.
Allen took advantage of several Pratt errors from there, rolling to a 25-11 win in the third set, 25-21 in the fourth and taking the decisive set, 15-12. Pratt committed a whopping 44 errors in the match.
Keith’s 14 kills and 16.5 points led ACC, while her 17 digs were one behind teammate Halley Scott. Keith and Lizzy Huey had two solo blocks apiece. Meyers had three aces and 17 assists. Munoz had 24 assists and two aces.

ALLEN FOLLOWED a familiar pattern Saturday.
The Red Devils had several opportunities against Cloud, but were done in by unforced errors in a 25-16, 25-17, 20-25, 25-23 defeat.
Keith had 13 kills and 14.5 points to go with 14 digs. Charbonneau had 28 digs.
Allen’s resolve improved considerably during the day, Peters said, and was nowhere near as evident as in the final match of the competition, a 25-16, 25-29, 19-25, 25-16 win.
“We were done losing by two and working hard for a loss,” Peters said.
Keith and Huey were catalysts from the start. Their stuff block was good for the winning point in the first set. Allen continued to roll after that in the 25-19, 25-16, 19-25, 25-16 win.
Keith’s 23 kills led the way, while Munoz and Jessi Sennett had 29 and 25 assists, respectively. Sennett also had four aces. Charbonneau had 31 digs. Danielle Goodman added 12 1/2 points. Keith also had 20 digs.
“Longview stepped up its blocking,” Peters said, leading to the third-set loss. Rather than fret, however, the Red Devils  rebounded with 14 kills in the final set.
“We came home confident in what we saw, but we know we need to improve,” Peters said. “This team is an excellent example of teamwork. Their chemistry on the court is contagious. We see the highs and feel the lows.”
Allen (3-3 overall) opens its home schedule Wednesday against Highland, starting at 5:30 p.m.

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