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| Brent McCown/Tribune |
Madison Pernicek and Melanie Placke won’t officially be teammates for a few more months, but they seem to have the routine of playing together down to a science.
The two future Wayne State College teammates combined for 30 kills to lead the LouPlatte Conference to a 25-22, 25-18, 24-26, 15-25, 15-13 victory over the Tribland All-Stars in the inaugural Tribune Volleyball Classic Thursday at Lynn Farrell Arena.
St. Paul’s Placke posted a match-high 17 kills, while her future college roommate — Pernicek — added 13 kills in the five set victory.
“It’s nice playing with Melanie, because we have gotten the chemistry down and gotten to know each other and know each other’s tendencies,” Pernicek said. “When we go up to college, it will just fit.”
Pernicek, a 6-foot-0 outside hitter from Ravenna, had five of her 13 kills in the decisive fifth set, as the LouPlatte squad held off a strong comeback bid from the Tribland All-Stars.
The LouPlatte team took a 12-7 lead in the fifth set before the Tribland team scored six straight points and took a 13-12 lead on an ace serve by Minden’s Lindsey Sitorius.
Trailing for the first time in the fifth set, the LouPlatte squad reeled off three straight points to win the match — with Pernicek slamming the game winner.
“I think everybody is competitive, so believe me, even if it’s only one set, you don’t want to lose,” Pernicek said. “We wanted to win, so that feels good.”
The LouPlatte team overcame an early 15-12 deficit in the opening set to earn a 25-22 win and then took control of the match with a 25-18 win in the second set.
LouPlatte had match point at 24-22 in the third set before the Tribland team rallied to extend the match.
A Stasia Ott kill cut the lead to 24-23. After a pair of errors gave the Tribland team a 25-24 lead, Lawrence-Nelson’s Mackenzie McCartney forced a fourth set with a kill.
“I really felt like if we found a way to win a game, then maybe they would think they could actually win. When that happened, they did,” Tribland coach Ed Rowse of Minden said. “That is when the fun really started, because the kids just started to loosen up and play.”
The Tribland team took a 6-5 lead early in the fourth set and never trailed again on its way to a 25-15 win.
Giltner standout Stasia Ott had three kills during the fourth set and finished with a team-high 16 kills to lead the Tribland team.
The 2008 Tribland player of the year and Morningside College recruit also added five ace blocks and an ace serve.
“We just kind of loosened up and played,” Rowse said. “They made some errors that we had been making in the first two sets. It wasn’t always pretty volleyball, but I think we relaxed and played.”
The LouPlatte squad jumped to a 5-1 lead in the fifth set and led 12-7 before the Tribland team used a six-point run to take its first lead of the match.
“I was happy that we could come back and fight through to win that fifth set,” LouPlatte coach Abie Ott of Doniphan-Trumbull said. “We had two games in a row that we lagged a little bit. So to come back strong in the fifth was pretty admirable I think for them.”
Ravenna graduate Mallory Irvine added 11 kills for the LouPlatte squad, while high school teammate Ashley Kulwicki finished with eight kills.
Hastings High graduate and Hastings College recruit Allison Kern had nine kills for the Tribland team, while Deshler’s Ashley Dahl and Hastings High’s Taylor Powers each added eight kills.
In its first year, the event raised about $1,000 for the Hastings Family YMCA.
Tribland 22 18 26 25 13
LouPlatte 25 25 24 15 15
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