MLC weathers Storm

By BOB VARMETTE

Journal Sports Writer

NEW ULM -- Intensity. So easy to lose, so hard to get back.

Luckily, the Martin Luther Knights found it again when they needed it most. Otherwise, their match with the Crown Storm could have gone to a fifth game, and then who knows what could have happened.

But the Knights recovered well enough to rally from from a three-point deficit to win the fourth game and take the match from Crown 30-22, 30-9, 21-30, 30-26 in UMAC volleyball Tuesday night.

So, what happened? Well, the Knights were cruising after the second game. Coach Drew Buck made a few lineup changes, and the Storm lashed the Knights.

"We were trying to adjust to playing with the new people," MLC freshman Bethany Bauer said. "We tried to adjust and they kind of got the best of us in that game."

Bauer would know better than most. She was the only starter who played in the first two games who also played in the third game.

The starters came back for the fourth game. But still it was a struggle for MLC (11-3, 2-0 UMAC).

Crown (3-7, 0-2) got out to a quick 4-0 lead. MLC answered and finally tied the game at 8.

From then until the match's final moments, the momentum was up for grabs.

"When you got starters coming back in cold and they're trying to press to get back the momentum, and all of a sudden they can't, and they can't figure out why, it's just a snowball effect," Buck said. "As a coach, you hopefully learn from those things as the players do."

Trailing 24-20 after a Naomi Williams kill through the block of MLC freshman Tiffany Wendt, the Knights finally regained their intensity and their hitting game. Freshman Beth Bertolus pounded two straight kills to give MLC a 25-24 lead.

The Storm retied the game at 25 on another Williams kill, but Wendt put the Knights up for good with a tip that found the floor in the Storm's right front.

"I just put my mind to it and did what I could," Bertolus said. "We could've played better, but I'm glad that we won."

Winning looked like a foregone conclusion early. MLC seniors Rachel Kramer, who had a team-high nine kills, and Missy Hahnke combined for seven kills in the first game.

In the second game, it looked like the Storm was over. MLC raced to a 6-0 lead, including back-to-back kills from Kramer.

It didn't get any better for Crown. Annie Uecker recorded a couple of kills as the Knights upped their lead to 19-5.

A passing error and three straight hitting errors gave the Knights the game.

The new Knights lineup led 10-6 in the third game. MLC freshman Abbie Gunn had three kills in the stretch, but that was when the Knights began to rock back on their heels.

The Storm tied the game at 12 on a kill to the back line by Sara Kurka. A block by Kurka and another Kurka kill through the block of Marie Christie helped the Storm to a 16-12 margin.

Crown was never headed for the rest of the game. Kurka, who finished with a match-high 12 kills, had two more kills as the Storm took the momentum away from the Knights.

"I put a lot of new faces in," Buck said. "We've proven already this year that's probably not the best thing to do, but you like to sometimes see if you can get away with it. We obviously couldn't tonight."

Perhaps what was most troubling for the Knights as their easy sweep was swept away was the disappearance of their hitting game. MLC had only five kills in the third game, largely because of the Knights' tentativeness on defense.

Poor passing had setters Becky Bertolus, who led MLC with 25 set assists, and Annie Uecker, who added 21 set assists, running frantically around the court.

"We weren't talking," Bauer said. "We were doing that in the first two games. We really have to get our communication going."

Buck added his concerns.

"We weren't getting the pass," Buck said. "When we're sending the setters all over the floor, we can't get attacks. And when we were able to get an attack, I don't know if it was in our best interest to make some of the swings. We're launching balls, or they were digging us."

Uecker, Beth Bertolus and Hahnke each had seven kills for the Knights. Gunn recorded five.

"We definitely did not play the game we need to be playing at this stage," Buck said. "We came off a weekend where we played tougher teams tougher. We still did too many things wrong."