Redemption against Walsh: Cedarville advances to GMAC semis in 5 sets

By Danielle Cherry 

Cedarville and Walsh met four days ago on the volleyball court. Their pairing in the GMAC tournament quarterfinals meant the Lady Jackets could avenge a four-set loss at Walsh.

The Cavaliers are known for their tough defense, with a strong hitting line coming out in the second half of the season. But this time the second-seeded Jackets prevailed over the seventh-seeded Cavaliers 18-25, 25-21, 25-27, 26-24, 15-13.

“The thing about Walsh, playing them just [four] days ago was the fact that it was very ingrained in our mind of: ‘this is how it was going to be,’” head coach Greg Smith said. “There weren’t any changes in what was going on with their personnel and what they were doing” 

Walsh (14-16) came out hitting incredibly strong in the first set, keeping the Jackets on the defensive, which didn’t allow for any offensive plays. For Cedarville (17-10), their hitting was at an all-time low at 0.29 percent to the Cavaliers’ .344. 

The attacking from Walsh’s end is what kept the momentum on their side for so much of the match, with Cedarville struggling to close the block on the outside and scrambling to keep balls up off of the Cavaliers’ block coming onto the Jackets side.

“This match was just so tight back and forth, and it was just small-point runs,” Smith said. 

Relentless as Walsh was, Cedarville had a special fire beneath them to prove their skill against such an evenly matched team like Walsh. The timing on the Jackets block and reception on an off-block ball became more precise into sets two and three. 

Throughout the game, the largest point gap was five, with Sienna Hanson’s aces being a proponent for the lead. Hanson, a strong middle hitter, served balls straight over the net making Walsh fumble to get a platform up because of the speed the ball was crossing to their side. 

“They’ve learned how to deal with [the pressure],” Smith said. “We are still the same group as we were in the beginning of the season but we’ve grown so much.” 

As tensions grew as the sets started falling Cedarville’s way, the precision in play only increased. At 20-20 in the fourth, the pressure on the Jackets only brought an uptick in attacks, with Cedarville’s own Madylenn Hensley bringing down 25 kills throughout the whole game. 

“Matches like this, it’s just another notch on our belt, it just helps us build and grow,” Smith said. 

For Hensley this being possibly her final game on Cedarville’s court, her skill in ball timing, blocking and hitting is a testament to the hard work she has put in to be an all-around player. Hensley is certainly one of the players coaches tell their team to watch out for, being a formidable force on the court. 

Momentum staying on the Jackets’ side into the fifth, Cedarville used every bit of pressure Walsh was feeling to their advantage. For Walsh, balls dropped with no one moving, balls were hit far out of the court and to end it all Hanson came out swinging with a kill right down the center line for a two-point win in the final set.

“I knew it was going to be a battle,” Smith said. “I’m proud of our girls because it could have gone either way.”

With teams so evenly matched the level of play was even across the board, yet the stats tell a different story. Despite Cedarville’s win Walsh hit at .182 percentage with Cedarville only hitting a .130. 

Unusual as it may be that the winning team hit less, Cedarville’s win came out of a coolness despite the pressure of the game. In the end Walsh had 11 reception errors to Cedarville’s two. The Jackets handled the pressure and that’s what made the difference. 

It wasn’t the level of attack, but the level of pursuit after the ball on every play. With so much pressure at the start of this match, the Jackets have grown exponentially in their mental resilience from the start of the season to now. 

Moving into the semifinals, Cedarville faces another redemption match Friday against Findlay at Ashland University. The Jackets lost in straight sets at Findlay on Sept. 25. Moving forward in the tournament gives Cedarville the chance to automatically qualify for the NCAA tournament if they win the GMAC championship.

“We won,” Smith said. “To go another day to keep going in the tournament, we’re excited about it.”

And the crowd cheering on Cedarville’s redemption against Walsh couldn’t agree more. 

Danielle Cherry is a junior communication major and is assistant editor and writer for A&E and passionate writer for Sports. She is a Missionary Kid from Germany and knows that if she were a coach, the first player she would pick to tell her team to watch out for would be Hensley.