- By Alison King
- Sports
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Dryden came to town on Thursday 10/1 ready to pay back Lansing’s earlier 3-0 win. The Lions had a sharper warm-up than Lansing and a slight edge at the outset, though the teams traded points. An inspiring kill by Tory Cutting brought the score to 12-14. Then came a Lansing substitution error, a lengthy delay, and a penalty against Lansing, from which the team never recovered. Dryden strung together aces, blocks, and kills to rack up 11 points to Lansing’s four, delivering a stunning 15-25 loss to the previously undefeated Lansing squad. Lansing created a five-point lead early in the second set when Amber Howser added a kill to Kristin Beyea’s three aces. Yet, the team remained off its game. Several kills by Dryden’s Bridget Bugliari combined with Lansing errors to give Dryden the advantage as the score hit double digits. Dryden held a two- to three- point lead until kills by Tara Miller, Breanna Brann, and a Miller ace tied up the score again 20-20. However, Lansing then gave away four critical points, suffering a second loss 22-25.
Anyone who left thinking the match was sealed missed the quantum energy shift on Lansing’s side of the net. Lansing roared back in set three. Kari Fenner set the tone with an early kill and ace, then Miller’s blocking took the steam out of Bugliari’s offense, and Brann outmaneuvered Dryden’s blocks. Dryden crumbled, putting only nine points on the board to Lansing’s 25. The fourth set was a different story. Dryden pulled ahead, stretching its lead to seven points, 13-20. But Lansing hung tough, banking eight points to Dryden’s one and tying the set at 21-21. Four times Brann scored kills past Dryden’s wall of double blocks. The score was tied twice again before Bandler’s ace and a final kill by Beyea stole the set back 26-24.
In the fifth set, Lansing snuffed Dryden’s early flame, leveling the score at 10-10. Three kills by Cutting, combined with kills by Nicolo Gentile, Beyea, and Howser, put Lansing ahead 17-16. Dryden racked up the next five points, 17-21. Then a Fenner block, a Fenner ace, and kills by Miller and Brann brought the set to 23-23. Intense rallies prompted errors -- each team hitting into the net, each team spiking the ball out. In the end, it was not power but a well-placed pass by Taylor Bandler that won Lansing the set 27-25 and the match 3-2.
Brann had eight kills, two assists, and a block; Fenner 20 digs, 18 assists, and two kills; Miller 19 digs, four kills, and two blocks; Sunah Bong 14 digs; Bandler 11 assists and six digs; Cutting six kills and five digs; Beyea five kills and six digs; and Howser five kills.
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