Lady Wolverines labor after holiday

BICKNELL -- White River Valley volleyball coach Kristi Graves struggled to find anything good to say about her team after they dropped a 25-8, 25-11, 25-18 match to host North Knox here Tuesday night.

The coach struggled to find anything positive in the match, almost as much as her team struggled to find any momentum throughout the contest.

She said the best way to describe it was simple.

"It was just really a complete breakdown," Graves said. "We did not pass well, we did not play defense well, we did not talk, we did not hit -- I can't think of anything that we did well at all tonight."

Maybe it was the three days she gave her team off to celebrate the Labor Day Weekend -- or maybe it was something else.

Either way Graves has no idea where the work they put in prior to the weekend went.

"We practiced and practiced and practiced," Graves said. "They had three days off and maybe they just forgot everything they knew.

"I just don't have anything positive to say about tonight and I feel like some of it's my fault -- it's just frustrating."

Regardless, Graves said her team gave her nothing to comment positively about and aside from their finally showing signs of life in the third set, plenty to focus on when it comes to getting ready for their next match, a non-conference affair with visiting West Vigo on Thursday night at Switz City.

"We have talent and real potential and for them to not to show up is really frustrating," Graves said. "I can't possibly begin to talk about what it was. I have no idea, I just don't know."

Things started bad and never really got better for WRV as the Lady Wolverines dropped to 5-4 on the year.

North Knox took complete control of the first two sets sprinting to big leads they would never relinquish.

In the first set it was a 10-2 leap out of the gate and was followed by an 11-1 opening spurt in the second stanza.

Both sets saw the Lady Warriors make the Lady Wolverines pay for every mistake, usually in multiples.

The first two sets were highlighted by long scoring runs from the hosts and only minimal resistance.

North Knox closed out the first set on a 10-0 run before using a 7-1 rally to end the second set.

Finally in the third set, WRV appeared to be the team that Graves hoped they would be coming into the match -- a squad that would provide a solid challenge to their hosts.

But as it turned out, inconsistency near the end of the match proved to be a foil for the Lady Wolverines.

The final set was deadlocked six times and saw WRV take an 11-8 edge after snapping a 3-all tie early only to see it slip away.

North Knox chipped away at the lead and eventually evened things at 13-all, then took an 18-13 lead before finally outscoring the Lady Wolverines 7-5 down the stretch.

"I think we showed there in the last set that we were evenly matched with them," Graves said. "But when you can't pass the ball and you can't hit the ball and you can't dig the ball, you're not going to win games."

Statistically speaking things were about as much of a nightmare as one would expect for WRV.

As a team they were able to pound out only a total of 10 kills. Senior J'Lynn Borter led the way with four.

Defensively the numbers were just as bleak as the Lady Wolverines managed to dig only 39 North Knox shots.

Topping the WRV tally sheet in digs was Lexi Graves with eight followed by Paige Hoffeditz with six.

All in all it was a night that Graves would just as soon forget.

"I suppose the only positive is that we've got a lot of work to do and we're aware of it," Graves said. "We'll try to figure out how to bring ourselves out of a rut."

Things didn't go much better for the junior varsity Lady Wolverines in their match dropping a 24-21, 25-17 decision, falling to 6-3.

Rebecca Reynolds led the squad with five digs while Brooklyn Stoner added three aces and two digs.

Thursday's match with the Lady Vikings is set for a 6 p.m. junior varsity start at Switz City.

White River Valley varsity stats vs. North Knox

J'Lynn Borter -- 4 points, 1 ace, 2 digs, 4 kills, 2 assists.

Jasmine Padgett -- 2 digs, 2 blocks.

Paige Hoffeditz -- 2 points, 6 digs, 1 kill, 1 assist.

Shannon Pittman -- 4 digs, 2 kills, 1 block.

Allison Wininger -- 2 points, 1 ace, 5 digs, 2 kills.

Lexi Graves -- 1 point, 8 digs.

Madison Hockman -- 2 digs, 1 kill, 3 assists.

Brooklyn Stoner -- 1 dig, 7 assists.

Allie Downey -- 5 digs.

Taylor Resler -- 1 point, 4 digs.

White River Valley junior varsity stats vs. North Knox

Alyssa Woodall -- 1 ace, 4 digs.

Mackenna Davidson -- 1 ace, 1 dig, 1 assist.

Brooklyn Stoner -- 3 aces, 2 digs.

Abigail Fletcher -- 2 digs.

McKenzie Campbell -- 4 blocks, 1 kill.

Lilly Hancock -- 1 kill.

Rebecca Reynolds -- 5 digs.