Netters beat Princeton

By Kevin Peterson

On top: Emma O’Brien pounds the ball over the net in a spike in a recent game. The Lady Ghosts take to the road to play Rock Falls Friday.

Photos

By Justin Miller

Chillicothe Times-Bulletin

Wed Oct 01, 2008, 02:42 PM CDT

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Chillicothe, Ill. -

The Lady Ghosts volleyball team never thought that they would have to worry about a Whiteout this season, but it worked in their favor.

On Sept. 23, the Illinois Valley Central girl’s volleyball team beat conference rival Princeton on Whiteout Night in a thrilling match that went to three games.

“It was Whiteout night,” IVC head coach Lisa Miller said. “The first 400 fans got a white T-shirt, and we had a really nice crowd there and that helped. They were noisy.”

The Ghosts came out in the first game looking anything but sharp, as they could not seem to find a rhythm.

The Ghosts committed 11 attack errors, four service errors, and three in-the-net errors to give Princeton 18 unearned points, something that IVC could not come back from in the first game, losing 25-14.

The Ghosts came back in the second game looking more focused and composed.

IVC’s offense mixed up its play a little more in the second game as they showed much more patience on the court.

Defensively, the Ghosts played strong and refused to give up.

Despite their strong play in the second game, Princeton would not go away. Almost every time the Ghosts would build up a lead, Princeton would creep back up to put themselves within striking distance.

Eventually IVC would pull away to win the second game by a score of 25-17 and force a sudden death game three.

The third match was more or less the same in terms of IVC’s performance.

IVC’s offense still looked varied and patient, while their defense continued to play strong.

Despite Princeton continuing to creep up on them throughout the game, IVC won the game, 25-18, and the match.

Chelsy Stumbaugh led the team with two aces.

Kelsey Brooke and Michelle O’Brien each had four kills for the game.

Defensively, O’Brien led the team with eight blocks, and Amanda Wilson followed her with seven blocks.

“It was a great win for the program,” Miller said. “They are a rival that easily beat Hall, who beat us, so it was nice.”

The Ghosts played Tuesday at Kewanee.

The next game is at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Rock Falls.