Varsity Volleyball

Royals Advance to District Play

By: Todd Enders, "Royal Times"

The Lady Royals (17-7) needed five matches to get by the pesky Castalia Margaretta Polar Bears (12-11) in the sectional finals on Saturday night. Wynford defeated the Polar Bears, 25-11, 25-17, 19-25, 23-25, 15-11, to advance in tournament play. Wynford took the first set in convincing fashion with the help of many service errors by Margaretta. The Royals jumped out to an early 11-6 lead before the Polar Bears tried to stall the Royals rally with a timeout. This was to no prevail, as the Royals dominated the rest of the set.  
In set 2, Margaretta came out ready to play keeping the set close; tying the set at 6 all. Wynford stayed in control increasing their lead to 22-14, never trailing in the set, before finishing off the Polar Bears. 
Going into set 3, Wynford looked as if they would finish off Margaretta in 3 sets, but the Polar Bears had bad news for the Lady Royals. Nothing seemed to go right for Wynford in this set, as they continued to make mistakes on the court. Coach Hurles was happy to escape the night with a victory. She said, "Mental mistakes hurt us in the third set giving the Polar Bears life, forcing the match into 5 sets." The Polar Bears seemed as if they could do no wrong on the court taking an early 12-1 lead. The Royals would not go away, fighting back to within 3 points, 22-18, before Margaretta finished the Royals off. 
In set 4, the intensity of the match heated up. Each team continued to fight for the lead as the score flopped back and forth until Margaretta finally won the nail biter. 
Set 5 was no different in intensity, as both teams continued to trade points. The biggest lead in this set was five points held by the Royals at 12-7. The Polar Bears closed the gap to within 2 at 13-11 before an Alyssa Harrer kill and a Sydney Alspach ace sealed the match for the Royals finally bringing the crowd back from the edges of their seats. 
Wynford travels to Seneca East on Thursday evening at 7:30 to face the 19-4 Huron Tigers.