By Bill Bray
FREMONT — Once again it was a group of Lady Giants that caused the explosion at the “Purple Pit” Thursday night as they overcame trailing by two sets to defeat Springfield 3-2 in a Northern Lakes League volleyball contest.
Though the first two set of the match were close, each went to Springfield with scores of 25-22 and 25-21. During those games, five points was the largest margin of difference between the two team.
The third set did not start out well for the Little Giants. With a tip, Springfield held the lead at 8-2 for their biggest advantage of the night. Ross took over the lead with a Lyndi Wolf kill to put Ross out in front 24-23. Springfield came back to tie the set with another thunderous kill from Gretchen Sigman. But after that, Wolf took charge and ended the game with a kill and service ace to give Ross the set 26-24.
With the set win for Fremont, Springfield began losing some of their spark. Abby Cahill started the fourth set with a service ace and Kylee Kidd added a kill to put the Giants up 3-1. After a Cahill kill tied the game at 8-8, Ross would outscore and outhustle Springfield to build their lead to 20-10 after another Wolf kill. Two of the final points scored by Fremont were on kills from Kidd sandwiched by a Wolf block. With the Blue Devils gasping for air, Fremont ended the set with a 25-11 win.
With the four sets being split by the two teams, a fifth and deciding set had to be played to determine the winner, The set is scored with the first to reach 15 and win by two points is deemed the winner.
Springfield got off to a fast start as they build a 4-2 lead on yet another Sigman kill. Following a block from Springfield, the Blue Devils came back to life momentarily after the demoralization of the third set loss. They were never really the same team after that set’s loss. Cahill again with a kill in the fifth set tied the decider at 8-8. Springfield, in the fifth set ha a hard time getting kills to fall in bounds. After a kill attempt that was out of bounds, Wolf laid down a kill to put Ross up 10-8. After the next Wolf kill the score was tied at 11-11. Ross scored the next two points on another Wolf kill and a Cahill service ace to put Ross in front 13-11. The set and match ended on what else but a out of bounce service by Springfield.
Unofficially the stats were: Lyndi Wolf with 25 kills. Abby Cahill finished with 21 digs and six kills. Kilee Kidd had 12 kills and Brook Baacke had 15 digs.
Coach Lindi Cahill had this to say about the huge Northern Lakes league victory. “I hope that Thursday night is a building block for a lot of positives in the Little Giant community. It was a fun night and our students handled themselves in a first class way.”
A concerted effort by Kyle Hintze and John Cahill to allow students to come to the game for free was realized. Some community members pitched in to pay for the student’s admission to the game. There were easily 100 high schoolers in the stands cheering on the volleyball team.
Next up for the steamrolling Little Giants (14-3, 9-3) is Oregon Clay (9-9, 6-5).Tuesday night at Clay High School.
Senior Abby Cahill helped lead the charge over Springfield just as she has done all season.
Sydney Weickert, who has gone over 1000 assists in her career, continued her excellent play at the position contributing 44 more against Springfield.
Abby Cahill’s leadership was evident Thursday as it has been all season.
Jocelyn Hines, back court specialist, contributed with nine digs and one assist.
Defensive Specialist Booke Baacke contributed with her aggressive style of play. Baacke, the heir apparent to Abby Cahill, added 15 digs.
Rylann Fox once again made her presence felt with four kills at the net.
Another front row the Little Giants highlight is the play of Kilee Kidd. Always a force as an outside hitter.
Tierra Parker, a freshman, cracked the outstanding cast of charactors for the Little Giants this season. She was indoctrinated to yet another tough match. She certainly held her own at the net with five kills and one dig.
Lyndi Wolf’s play at the net once again led the Giants.
A wonderful celebration at the end of the game filled the “Purple Pit” with PRIDE and PASSION!
Student Section members are shown filing into the gym before the game began,
What a difference the combined student section made during the contest. All the brain child of Kyle Hintz and John Cahill both members of the Fremont Ross staff. Throw in teacher and coach Ed Baptista and the event is something that needs to continue right through basketball season.