WORTHINGTON - Emma Gerber summed up her team’s play in one word Thursday.
Relentless.
“We went five sets and played a game just like this against (Red Rock Central) the other night,” said the senior middle hitter. “We lost that one and it was a tough one to lose. The way we played tonight, that’s who we are. I’m so proud of my team.”
The Trojans went five sets for the second time this week. Though they trailed by at least four points in each of the first two sets, they went up 2-0 with wins of 25-19 and 25-20. They fell behind early in both the third and fourth sets and forced extra points. In those matches, Redwood Valley came away with wins of 28-26 and 31-29.
But in the fifth and deciding game, it was all Worthington. It closed out the Big South Conference victory with a 15-2 triumph.
“I think we’ve really found our fight in these last couple games,” Trojans head coach Jessica Hogan said. “It’s been fun to watch them pull together as a team.”
As if the first two games weren’t exciting enough, things didn’t truly heat up until late in the third game.
Redwood Valley went on a 7-0 run to go up 14-10 and held the lead until Gerber went kill, ace block, kill, ace block for four consecutive points, putting the home team back up 18-16. It looked like the Trojans might close the sweep when an illegal substitution put them up 23-20, but two straight ace serves by Maria Bebeau eventually put the Cardinals up 24-23. A tandem block for Gerber and Allie Bruns tied it at 24-apiece.
After trading points back-and-forth, the Cardinals staved off defeat with a 28-26 victory.
The visitors came out hot to start the fourth game. They went up 7-0 before a big swing by Gerber momentarily stopped the bleeding. Redwood continued to roll and led by as many as nine at 13-4, but Worthington didn’t give in. Emily Shaffer dropped in five straight points before another Gerber smash made it 14-11.
“I just go up and play hard,” Gerber said. “I depend so much on my team. We’ve had a rough couple of games, but we were relentless in this game.”
The Trojans closed the gap to one at 19-18, but Redwood pulled away to 22-18. Again Worthington fought back. An Abbi Mulder ace block made it 23-20 in favor of the Cardinals and put her at the service line. A kill by Gerber completed the comeback and once again extra points were needed to decide it.
The two black-and-red clad teams traded blows, with the tension growing at each point and change of serve. Two big kills by Mulder put Worthington up 29-28 with a chance to win it, but a service error sent the ball back to the Cardinals. Finally, they closed it out with a 31-29 thriller after having survived five potential match points.
Both Gerber and Hogan said Monday night’s losing experience in a similar game helped them going into the fifth set.
“We believe everything happens for a reason,” Hogan said. “We talked between games about what happened last time. We talked about how they had to go out there and want to earn that win.”
The Trojans left no doubt in the rubber match. Olivia Petersen served up the first seven points to give her team a 7-0 lead before Redwood went on offense. It was short-lived, too. Gerber cranked out what might have been her hardest spike of the night to give the serve back to the Trojans. Anneke Weg served them to 13-1 and an ace serve by Gerber ended a 15-2 fifth set.
“Honestly, I thought it was going out,” Gerber said. “When I saw it was in, that was the best feeling ever.”
A five-point service run that included two aces by Gerber put Worthington on top 7-5 early in the first game, but Redwood Valley eventually regained the serve and the lead. An ace block by Mulder temporarily pushed the momentum back to the Trojans, but a long surge spearheaded by Courtney Kretsch’s strong serving put the Cardinals in control at 12-8.
Worthington worked its way back into it. Kills by Bruns and Gerber on back-to-back volleys provided a spark before Mulder dropped in an ace serve. That made it a one-point game at 15-14 Cardinals. In all, Mulder served up six straight.
Petersen got it to 24-18 as the Trojans finished on a 15-5 run, punctuated by a thundering Gerber kill for the 25-19 game-winner.
After leading the whole way early in the second game, Worthington saw Jaycie Ford serve the Cardinals on a 5-0 run to put them on top 12-11. Kills by Emma Gaffney and Bebeau increased the lead to three and the visitors had all the momentum. That lasted until Maddi Woll knocked them off-kilter with a hard attack.
That started a 6-0 Trojans run that put them back in command at 19-17 when Redwood regained the serve. That propelled them to a 25-20 victory and a 2-0 lead in the match.
“We have great balance,” Hogan said. “Our front row feeds off of our back row’s play. Anneke did a good job keeping everyone involved; but she knows where to put it in crucial situations. She’s a very smart setter and she’s getting better with every game.”
Weg finished the night with 37 set assists and tied Jasmine Williams for the team-high in digs with 16. The top beneficiary of Weg’s setting was Gerber, who smashed 24 kills. Mulder added 10 while Woll pounded seven kills and had 14 digs. Gerber and Mulder added five and three ace blocks, respectively, with Petersen scooping 10 digs and going 22-of-25 with two aces serving. Weg was good on 19-of-20 serves with two aces.
Again, one word summed it up for Gerber.
“Awesome,” she said. “It was just an awesome win.”
