NEW CASTLE — Greenfield-Central had only lost five sets all season, and never three in a row.
After getting off to a 2-0 lead, seeking to extend their Hoosier Heritage Conference record to 3-0, the Cougars volleyball team dropped the final three sets and lost 3-2 to host New Castle at New Castle Fieldhouse Thursday.
Greenfield-Central won a back-and-forth opening set 25-23, dominated the second 25-19, before the Trojans turned the tables.
New Castle was in control the majority of the third set, eventually winning 25-20. The Trojans tied the match by winning another back-and-forth set 25-22, and grabbed the decider 15-10.
“Things just weren’t swinging our way,” Greenfield-Central coach Candice Wyatt said. “We were making mistakes we don’t usually make. Watching the ball hit the floor is something we never do and we did it numerous times. No one was really stepping up and going for those. That was a big issue and our mental attitudes have been a little off lately.
“The girls aren’t getting mad at each other, but they’re getting mad at themselves and down on themselves. I tell them when you get mad at yourself, it still effects the way we all play as a team.”
The Cougars are 13-2 overall and 2-1 in the HHC. The Trojans improved to 12-4 and 2-0.
The contest was one of two played Thursday pitting the four unbeaten HHC volleyball teams in head-to-head matches. At Yorktown, the Tigers defeated Mt. Vernon 3-0.
With a lot of the season still remaining, Yorktown is 4-0 in conference play. New Castle is 2-0, while the Cougars and Marauders are both 2-1. New Palestine is 0-1.
Greenfield-Central won its first 10 matches and Wyatt said she’s noticed, since losing a match in a Saturday tournament they eventually won, the team hasn’t played with the same confidence.
She’s hopeful that some practice sessions prior to a pair of conference matches next week, Tuesday at Mt. Vernon and Thursday at home against Shelbyville, they can get back to playing complete matches like they were doing in August.
“Since we had our first loss, we’ve been trending downward,” Wyatt said. “Our energy, and overall momentum — I can feel it in practice a little bit, too — I want to see them find that drive and passion again like they had earlier season.”
In the final three sets, Greenfield-Central did not have an answer for New Castle outside hitter Lauren Wilson, a junior who played her first two high school seasons at New Palestine. Wilson had kills on the final three points of the match. She had six in the final set, five in the fourth and eight in the third set.
“She’s probably the best hitter we’ve seen so far this season,” Wyatt said. “It was tough for our team to handle that, even though we practice against (our top outside hitter Mya Grigsby). There’s no way to really prepare for it until you’re in the game. She kept finding our passers that were struggling and hitting it in zones we weren’t picking up.”
Grigsby had, unofficially, 22 total kills. She helped orchestrate a third-set comeback that fell just short down the stretch.
The Cougars trailed 16-8, before Grigsby, with three kills, Katie Muegge with two, and Harper Holden and Rilee Roland with one each, cut the margin to 19-18. A New Castle attacking error tied it, but the Trojans found a way to score six of the last seven points.
There were 10 ties and six lead changes in the fourth set. Grigsby had seven kills. Holden had two. A Grigsby kill tied it at 22-22, but New Castle’s Ella Young and Wilson finished attacks and the final point came on a G-C attacking error.
Grigsby and Holden had back-to-back fifth-set kills to cut it to 9-8, and a Roland kill made it 10-9, but Wilson had four kills, including the final three points of the match, to give the Trojans the victory.
The opening set had 10 ties and seven lead changes with Grigsby and Madison Sonsini each recording four kills. The second set was all Cougars.
Back-to-back Sonsini attacks gave G-C a 9-3 lead. The advantage grew to eight, 16-8, on a perfectly-placed Grigsby attack. A Sonsini kill ended the set.
