TRAVERSE CITY — Effort is never in question when Traverse City Central and Traverse City West meet on the volleyball court.
Thursday’s crosstown showdown between the rival Trojans and Titans on Central’s home court certainly did not disappoint in that department — on either side — despite Central’s 3-0 sweep over West.
“It’s fun to anticipate that,” Central head coach Emily Wilbert said of the intensity that comes when Central plays West. “I played here, too, and it has always been that way. Every time these schools go head to head, you know it’s going to be a good match and both teams are going to come with their best and play every point hard. You just hope your team shows up.”
The Trojans built early leads in all three sets but still had to overcome West’s fight to win 25-20, 25-21 and 25-14. The win improves Central to 18-1-1 overall.
“It’s about building that momentum,” Wilbert said. “It’s about taking care of business on nights when it counts. Having them come out here and execute, that shows me they can get the job done. It gives me a lot of confidence in them on the nights when there’s lots of pressure and fans.”
Central went up 5-0 in the first set, but the Titans rallied to get within one at 6-5. West actually got within a point seven times — 6-5, 7-6, 13-12, 15-14, 16-15, 20-19 and 21-20 — in the first set, but the Trojans never allowed their rivals to tie or even take the lead.
That trend continued in sets two and three as the Central never trailed and the only ties of the night were at 0-0 to start all three sets.
Elyse Heffner was a force in the first set for the Trojans, using her power for timely kills that halted any momentum West was working to build. Heffner finished with 12 kills on the night, five of those coming in the first set.
“From Tuesday to now, we played a lot better. We’re just not taking care of certain balls on our side of the court and capitalizing on certain things,” West head coach Emily Baumann said. “They (Central) have a great hitter. Elyse is a great hitter. Yup, she’s going to get a kill, but we’ve got to play around that and capitalize on rotations when she’s not in the front row. And I just don’t feel like we did that.”
The Trojans went up 3-0 in the second set, and they only allowed the Titans to get within one once at 3-2. After holding a steady lead throughout and building up to a 20-11 advantage, it looked as if Central would cruise to a 2-0 lead.
But the Titans had no intention of laying down against their rivals.
West charged back to make it a 22-19 game and then scored two on set-point for Central to claw within three again at 24-21, but it was just too little too late.
“If we would have just started strong, we would have been right there and in it,” Baumann said.
Baumann said starting from behind takes a mental toll in these rivalry games.
“We fought, but it just sucks to lose,” she said. “We fought really hard. We dug deep, but we just fell a little short because we started behind. Having to dig out of that hole every match was a little deflating.”
Set three began the same at set two with the Trojans jumping out to a 3-0 lead and the Titans coming back to make it 3-2. But just like the second set, that is as close as the score would get the rest of the way.
The point of the night — which perfectly encapsulated the standard of effort put forth in these rivalry matches — came in the third set with Central up 16-7.
Several incredible saves on both sides resulted in a long volley that so many times looked like it was West’s point and then looked like it was Central’s point in a wild back-and-forth that drew rousing applause from both fanbases after Central ultimately won the point.
That seemed to be West’s last gasp, however, as the Trojans went on to their largest margin of victory of the night by 11 points.
“There is not anything else I wanted to see from the girls, tonight. They delivered on exactly what I asked,” Wilbert said, adding the Central roster was down two players home sick and one injured on the bench. “The ones I had, no one is feeling 100 percent. Everyone has some sort of ache or something going on. I asked for one night to give me everything they have, and then we’ll take a little breather.”
Because they delivered, the Trojans don’t have to practice Friday and get the weekend off from competition.
“I knew this was going to be a tough match against a very good team, and they gave it everything they had and played every point to the end and laid out for every ball,” Wilbert said. “They did everything I asked, so I’m extremely proud.”
Along with her dozen kills, Heffner finished with eight digs and an assist.
“It’s always so fun to play West in this atmosphere,” Heffner said. “They’re all super nice people, and we all know each other super well because we live in the same city and play club with them. That goes a long way in supporting each other. They’re such a scrappy team, and they did a really good job tonight to keep us on our toes.”
Marley Richmond had 29 assists, four digs, two kills and two aces. Central’s MVP for the game said Thursday’s win is what they have been working toward.
“We came out and a lot of us were not feeling well, but nobody could have known we were sick. We all came out as a team and played really well,” Richmond said. “We dug really deep, and that’s because (West) is our rival school. Emma (Flick) is their amazing libero, and we’ve been figuring out ways to get around her and finding ways to win as a team.”
Sidney Richmond had 18 digs, one kill and one ace.
“Our team is connecting very well,” Sidney said. “With all the new people, it hasn’t been awkward. Everything blended well, and we’re fitting well together. Hopefully, we’ll be able to keep that up.”
Also contributing for Central were Annika Powis (three kills, four digs, one assist, one block), Erica Heffner (four kills, seven digs), Macaire Kudary (eight kills, nine digs) and Sable Dankers (nine kills, two blocks, one dig).
For the Titans, Flick led with 21 digs to go with an assist.
“Emma dug the crap out of the ball, which was awesome. We played really hard, but we just didn’t have the moments when we stayed in it,” Baumann said. “As a coach, those are really hard because it’s like a rollercoaster ride.”
Madeline Bildeaux had seven kills, five blocks and 100 percent serving. Abella Gallagher finished with eight assists, two digs and an ace. Eleanor Kinsey had 13 assists and three digs. Emily Kelsey had three kills and four digs. Judy Steffens had five kills, two aces, two blocks and two digs. Kendall Sierzputowski had an ace and a dig. Macy Pohlad had three kills, three digs and two blocks. Olivia Kandow tallied three kills, three blocks and two digs, and Piper Cavanaugh had one kill and one block.
“It’s fun to play big teams. We played Rockford — and they’re huge — and we actually beat them,” Baumann said. “It’s fun to play big competition and step up to the challenge because it makes you better. That’s the only way you’re going to get better.”
Elyse Heffner said the rivalry win will be a big help going forward, but the Trojans now have to focus on what’s next.
“It’s definitely going to improve our confidence and keep our momentum going,” she said. “It was a big win tonight, but we’ve got to put it behind us and keep working and pushing forward for what’s ahead.”