Gremlins win Kaysinger title outright

Reminiscent of their victory over Stover in the Kaysinger Conference Tournament championship match, the Sacred Heart Gremlins found a way to win Thursday night with the outright conference crown on the line.

The Gremlins fought off two game points in the opening game and another in the second en route to a 26-24, 26-24 win over Green Ridge, capturing their fifth straight league championship and their third in a row outright (Sacred Heart shared the title with Cole Camp in 2005 and ’06). The Gremlins finished with a perfect 7-0 conference mark.

“The girls showed a lot of resolve at the end,” Sacred Heart coach David Fall said. “They did a very nice job of coming back and finishing up. If we go to a third game and give them the momentum, who knows what happens? It was nice to finish it up in two for the outright conference championship.”

Kelli Lamb and Erica Stone had a match-high 11 assists and combined for five kill blocks, Johannah Hohne — donning the libero jersey with Rachel Fritz out with the flu (along with Sierra Fredrick) — added a team-high 12 digs and Rachel Fischer chipped in a team-high seven service points.

On the other side of the net, Laurel Larimore had a team-high seven service points, 23 assists and six kills and Torey Williams and McKenna Dixon combined for 30 digs for Green Ridge (5-2 Kaysinger).

The Lady Tigers had their chances to secure a share of the conference title, but couldn’t capitalize in the clutch against a determined Gremlins squad.

After five lead changes in the opening game and facing a 17-14 deficit, the Lady Tigers scored seven unanswered points behind two Clare Chamberlin aces, three Larimore kills and two Sacred Heart unforced errors.

Two straight Kelli Lamb kills and a Hohne free ball kill narrowed the advantage to a point, but Green Ridge found a way to stretch the lead to 24-22. Green Ridge squandered the first game point with four touches, and on the next point, a Stone left-handed kill up the right side knotted the score at 24.

A well-placed Fischer serve followed to set up game point and a Jordyn Smith strike sailed long to give the Gremlins the come-from-behind win.

In the second game, Green Ridge came out unfazed on its way to a 10-6 lead. The Gremlins’ front line, however, found their rhythm and answered with a 5-0 run as Stone and Lamb combined for four straight kills, followed by a timely kill block from Rachel Fischer to take an 11-10 lead.

The advantage continued to change hands until Green Ridge once again surged ahead late and led 21-18 after Larimore found Williams for a kill up the left side. After a Stone kill and a Green Ridge unforced error closed the deficit to a point, Claire Fischer provided an ace and a kill from Stone gave the Gremlins a 22-21 advantage.

Chamberlin and Dixon answered with two kills, followed by a Stone strike that found the left corner, but Chamberlin gave the Lady Tigers their third game point with a solid strike up the left side.

Facing game point, Rachel Fischer found Lamb for a kill up the middle and a clutch Stone dig prolonged the next point, which was capped off by Rachel Fischer finding Lamb for a kill up the middle.

With the Gremlins up 25-24, two free balls set up each team, but a Larimore strike tipped the net and bounced back into Green Ridge territory, securing the straight-game win for Sacred Heart.