Hawks squeeze out victory over Wilton

Things couldn?t have been much closer on Thursday night.

In the decisive fifth game between Mid-Prairie and Wilton, the Hawks were on the cusp of completing a comeback that seemed unlikely not 10 points before.

Down 10-5 in the fifth set, the Hawks rallied for nine of the next 10 points to set up match point with a 14-11 lead. After Wilton battled back to make it 14-13, a kill attempt seemed to seal the game for the Hawks, and when the whistle blew, Mid-Prairie started to celebrate.

That turned out to be a little too premature, however, as the ball had gone mere inches out of bounds, and Wilton won the point.

Two points later, Mid-Prairie (4-0, 1-0 in River Valley Conference play) had to hesitate for a second, but then could finally celebrate a victory, as they defeated Wilton in five sets, 25-18, 22-25, 25-20, 20-25, 16-14.

?It was so intense on the court,? Mid-Prairie senior Emily Cayton said. ?It just helped us get the adrenaline going. It just felt so great to get the win.?

The intensity of the game helped keep Mid-Prairie going after suffering a tough 25-20 loss in the fourth set. After that point, which saw Mid-Prairie nearly rally to take the set and match, the Hawks had to regroup and focus for the fifth set.

?We just had to keep staying positive and never give up,? Cayton said. ?We just had to go all out. We are able to work hard to get a win like this.?

After falling behind 10-5 in the fifth set, the Hawks needed to regroup again, and while the public may never know what was said in the huddle, it seemed to have worked, as the Hawks cruised for nine of the next 10 points.

?That?s a secret,? Mid-Prairie volleyball head coach Cindi Miller said. ?There?s no reason to play mad, and there?s no reason to play down. We are lucky to get out there to play, and so let?s have fun doing it. We didn?t say that, but that?s our attitude. It?s all-in everything. Last year, they saw that if you keep pushing, you can get a victory. Tonight, that?s what we did.?

After not having played a competitive match for over a week, the Hawks started off strong, taking a quick 5-1 lead in the first set; however, Wilton fought back, closing the gap to 19-17.

?It took a little while,? Mid-Prairie senior Jazmyne Jones said. ?We had to get back into the groove of things, but we got it back and really worked hard all game.?

The Hawks took over after that point, winning six of the final seven points in the game to take a first-set victory, led by a pair of Jaedynn Evans? aces, as well as points by Ali Butters and Clarice Murphy.

?At the beginning of the game, we said that we had to put everything we had forward,? Jones said. ?That?s what we did. We had to hit hard and (it worked).?

Wilton came out strong in the second set, jumping out to a 13-5 lead before an 8-1 run for Mid-Prairie closed the gap to 16-15. The Hawks couldn?t get over the hump in the set as Wilton held them off en route to a 25-22 victory.

In the third set, Wilton and Mid-Prairie handed the lead back and forth until the Hawks used a seven-point run to snatch a 23-17 lead late in the game. The Hawks kept Wilton at bay for the rest of the set as they won 25-20, to take a 2-1 game lead.

The fourth set started off with Wilton jumping out to an 18-11 lead before the Hawks eventually closed the gap once again. Mid-Prairie then rattled off a 9-2 run, with seven straight points coming on the serve of Cayton, as the Hawks tied the game up at 20.

Once Mid-Prairie lost the serve, however, Wilton stole the next five points to close the set and force the exciting fifth set.

After the Hawks earned the 16-14 victory to claim the match, they were able to cheer, but with a tough stretch of matches coming up, they realize that they won?t be able to sit back and relax with what they?ve done.

?I think the games that we lost woke them up,? Miller said. ?We didn?t give up in those games, and we kept fighting. That was the biggest thing, that they didn?t just quit. Once you lose that momentum, it snowballs so fast, and they are just such positive kids.?

Mid-Prairie will continue its season at Mount Vernon on Saturday.