CU Volleyball drops home opener to Walsh

by Tim Miller

The Cedarville Lady Jackets were swept by the Walsh Cavaliers on Wednesday night in Cedarville’s 2018 home opener. Cedarville falls to 1-7 and 0-1 in the G-MAC after losing 25-16, 25-17, and 25-19.

Sophomore hitter Lauren Willow chalked up eight kills and senior hitter Taylor Wilkerson tallied six. Sophomore setter Sierra Schuitema added 19 assists.

Head coach Greg Smith said the atmosphere in Callan was intense, but the Lady Jackets must continue to grind in order to show the fans more success.

“Going into your first home match, you just try to get the jitters out,” Smith said. “We’ve still got a lot of things to work on but there was definitely some bright spots.”

The first set was tight, as neither team could create separation during the first 10 points. Cedarville took the first two-point lead of the game with a kill from Willow to go up 7-5.

Walsh took momentum halfway through the first, extending its lead to 13-9. Cedarville called a timeout in order to stop the Cavalier rush.

The Lady Jackets were unable to regroup and lost the first four points out of the timeout. Cedarville again called a timeout as Walsh took a clear momentum swing with a 17-9 lead.

Wilkerson ended the Lady Jackets’ long scoring drought with a kill to bring Cedarville closer at 19-10. The Lady Jackets went on to scorch Walsh for five of the next six points, leading Walsh to burn its first timeout with a 20-15 margin.

Cedarville was able to fight back to continue to make the set tighter, but Walsh ultimately took it 25-16.

Cedarville played the second set much closer, but allowed the set to get away briefly. The Lady Jackets called a timeout down 14-10 in an attempt to keep he set under control. Out of the timeout, Walsh responded with four points in a row, leading to another Cedarville timeout.

Willow had three kills in the set and Schuitema totaled seven assists.

Cedarville remained pesky in the third set, repeatedly stifling Walsh’s attempts to take control of the set. While the Cavaliers wouldn’t give away their lead, the Lady Jackets kept the set within four points until Walsh took a 16-12 lead, prompting a Cedarville timeout.

While the Lady Jackets continue to pelt Walsh with bursts of energy, the Cavalier lead was too much in the end. Walsh took the third and final set in a convincing sweep.

The Lady Jackets hit the road once again for a matchup with Tiffin on Saturday. The Dragons are 6-3 and won their conference opener against Alderson Broaddus on Tuesday 3-0.