ATTICA — Galion put a scare in state-ranked Norwalk in the Division II volleyball district semifinals Wednesday at Seneca East High School. The upstart Tigers won the opening game and had set point in the second, but couldn’t close out the Truckers in a 3-1 loss.
Top-seeded Norwalk (21-4), which was ranked 12th in the final Ohio High School Volleyball Coaches Association state poll, will play Lexington for the district title at 3 p.m. Saturday at Seneca East. Lady Lex knocked off Madison in the second game Wednesday.
After winning the first game 27-25, Galion (20-5) led the second 24-23 but a service error knotted the score. The Tigers reclaimed the lead at 25-24 on senior Makaila Grimes’ block, but a kill by Alicia Lortcher, a Galion hit into the net and a kill by Sydney Obringer gave the Truckers the 27-25 win — and the momentum.
“We missed a couple serves at some key times,” Galion coach Jaime Valentine said. “That hurt us.
“We’re not a great third-game team. We kind of get a little gassed.”
Norwalk won the third game 25-20 and the fourth game 25-20.
“The turning point was that second game,” Norwalk coach Angie Kalizewski said. “Galion kept us out of our game the whole game. We couldn’t settle for more than three points. They were serving very aggressively and their hitters are good.”
The Truckers had no answer for Galion’s Reanne Neal. The 6-foot-2 senior had 28 kills. Aside from Neal, nobody on Galion’s roster is taller than 5-foot-9, but the athletic Tigers caused all sorts of probles for the bigger Truckers.
“I knew it was going to be a match,” Kalizewski said. “We had to get settled in and used to what was coming at us.”
On the Rise: Galion will lose five seniors to graduation. Despite the loss, Valentine likes the direction of the program.
“This is an opportunity my girls have been waiting for,” she said. “I fee like they left their heart on the court. They played tough every point and never gave up.
“They’ve had a phenomenal season. Hopefully now some people will give us a little bit more respect, which we have not had for a while.”
