Mid-Prairie falls to No. 5 ranked West Liberty

Falling by just 10 total points in a volleyball match points to a highly contested match that came down to the wire. Unfortunately for the Mid-Prairie volleyball team, all those points came in the first three sets.

Despite a strong fight, the Golden Hawks fell to No. 5 ranked West Liberty on Tuesday night in straight sets, 25-21, 25-22, 25-22.

?The word tonight was determination,? Mid-Prairie head coach Cindi Miller said. ?We still have (some injuries), and we knew that with our single block up here, people could just destroy us, because we had an opening, so we had to play hard, and we did. We played so hard.?

Miller has talked at length this season about her team being ?on the cusp,? and with a strong performance against the highly ranked Comets, she feels like things are about ready to come to fruition for her team.

?We are so close,? Miller said. ?When you only lose by three points by teams that are rated No 5 in the state, you know you are doing something right. You have to continue to do that and believe in what you are doing. Eventually it will work out.?

The Hawks hung tough with the Comets in the first set, with West Liberty jumping out to its first extended lead at 15-11. Mid-Prairie rallied to tie the game up at 17, and after trading points to a 19-18 lead, the Comets stepped on the gas with a 7-2 run to close out the set.

In set two, Mid-Prairie jumped out to an early lead with a 15-13 lead, but West Liberty wouldn?t let the Hawks pull away.

The Comets rallied to tie things up at 20 in the midst of a 7-2 run that helped them close the second set 25-22.

With their backs against the wall in the third set, Mid-Prairie jumped out to a fast start, leading 6-3. Mid-Prairie held onto the lead until West Liberty tied it up at 10 and took a 16-11 lead with a 10-2 run.

West Liberty never trailed again, as they closed out a late Mid-Prairie charge to claim the match with a 25-22 victory.

Mid-Prairie was led by freshman Jaedynn Evans? eight kills, while junior Ali Butters and senior Emily Cayton each had seven kills.

Freshman setter Sami Miller had 21 assists in the match, while junior Amanda Miller had a team-high 15 digs.

As a team, the Hawks converted serves at a rate of 85.9 percent, and were led by Butters, who went 14-for-14 with an ace on the day.

?I think we are there, but we haven?t played any teams that are less ability than us,? Miller said. ?Volleyball is a game of mistakes, and I know we missed too many serves. That is a big thing. That first game, we missed too many serves and that was our biggest point of error.?

Mid-Prairie will take on Camanche on the road tonight at 7:15.