Redskins ousted in regional semifinals

A roller-coaster season for the Camden-Frontier volleyball team ended with the Redskins beginning the climb up a sizable hill, only to hit the emergency brakes early.

The Plymouth Christian Eagles came into Tuesday's Class D regional semifinals as an honorable mention recipient in the final MIVCA poll, but the Redskins used solid offensive output and plenty of enthusiasm early on to take a 1-0 lead with a 25-23 win.

Unfortunately for C-F fans and head coach Dawn Follis, the girls left plenty to be desired the rest of the way.

The Eagles blocking and serve-receive improved steadily throughout the night, while the Redskins lacked the consistency and cohesion they have struggled to find all season.

The result was a 3-1 Eagles win, following 25-16, 25-10, 25-19 victories.

C-F ends the season 25-16-6 and Follis said Tuesday's match was a very winnable one when comparing the teams' talent, but her girl's couldn't overcome poor execution and inconsistent focus.  

“Sometimes our team has a tendency to self destruct and that's kind of what happened,” she said. “Sadly, one person makes a bad pass, the next one does, the next one...instead of being able to make the play, so sometimes it caves in like that. Unfortunately that's what happened.”

The Redskins lack of height also didn't help their cause, as the Eagles' 5-11 Kristin Malcom and 5-8 Folake Olojo were thorns in their side all night long with strong net play.

Follis said Plymouth Christian figured out how to set up its attack, while her team left plenty to be desired in that area.

“I said we've got to hit, we've got to hit,” she said. “And if you would watch our attack it would be a free ball or push over the net, which is not an attack.”

Morgan Warfield showed some power at the net on occasion and Effie Spieth had several nice diving saves, but Follis said the lesson to be learned is that volleyball is a team sport where players need to pick their teammates up when things go awry.

“Volleyball is a team sport and it takes the entire team always giving their best in practice, in games, and being able to cover for one another,” she said. “So if someone's passing bad, you've got to pass better. It's about covering for each other.”