A blue-collar mentality and rugged work ethic are not the first things that spring to mind when you think about The Community School volleyball team, but the Cutthroats carried a dirt-tough attitude into their match against Shoshone Tuesday night and backed it up with some stalwart swings.
"It was a dogfight," Cutthroat coach Reamy Goodwin said. "It was fun to watch those kids have that kind of match."
Coached by Larry Messick, Shoshone (12-8 overall, 7-2 conference) is well known for its own lunch pail approach. After watching the six Cutthroat seniors receive their kudos, flowers and gifts for "Senior Night," the Indians were more than a little hungry to serve up a heaping helping of hard ball.
The Cutthroats were equal to the task, but it took a few points to get their heads in the game. Shoshone jumped out to an early 11-5 lead and held a 21-15 advantage when Goodwin called a second timeout to regroup his team.
Back on the floor, Amaya Ingram (14 kills, 7 service points) crushed consecutive kills to make it a 21-17 game. Caroline Fairchild's block pulled the team within two, 22-20, but Shoshone sided out on a bad serve to lead 23-20. Krystyne Inman set Shawnee Brew (8 kills, 9 service points) on a successful kill to make it 23-21, but Shoshone answered on Shaynee Gulliford's slam to go up 24-21 and collected the next point to win the opening game, 25-21.
Looking much more focused and cohesive, the Cutthroats ran up a 7-3 lead in the second game, with Inman setting the table nicely for heavy hitters Ingram and Brew. Sun Valley closed out the game, 25-19, with Ashley Bradley (9 service points) saving the ball off the net and putting it back in play, and Ingram (14 kills) crushing the return.
With the momentum, Goodwin's girls had an eight-point lead at one point in the third game. Fairchild (7 kills, 4 blocks) stepped up with three kills, two blocks and two digs, including consecutive point-saving bumps to Bradley and Ingram, with the latter going for a kill to lead 22-20. Shoshone tied the game on two misses by the Cutthroats, and two errors later held a 24-22 advantage. Ingram's running kill made it 24-23, but a serve into the net gave the Indians the slim win and a 2-1 advantage in the best-of-five match.
Like a plastic surgeon's practice, the fourth game was nip and tuck with neither team carrying more than a four-point advantage at any time. Ingram tied it 7-7 on a spike so hard it bounced off an Indians' player and almost went into the basketball hoop that had been raised to the rafters.
"Amaya needs to hit like that. It's kill or be killed for that kind of player," Goodwin said.
Successful spikes by Jenn Tormey and Ingram pushed the Cutthroat lead to 16-12, but Shoshone dug in to make to 16-15. Again, Sun Valley got out in front, 20-16, but the Indians would not quit, rallying to tie the game 20-20.
A tip by Fairchild, ace by Ingram and kill by Brew made it 23-20, but three Sun Valley errors and an ace by Taylor Astle, tipped the scales in Shoshone's favor 24-23. Ingram's kill made it 24-all, but Shoshone capitalized on a pair of long balls by the Cutthroats to prevail, 26-24, closing out the match 3-1.
Goodwin was upbeat after the high-octane match, noting, "we are playing well and getting better by the day."
After closing out the regular season against Dietrich last night, the Cutthroats gear up for the Northside 1A Sub-District Tournament at Dietrich, October 15-16. As of Wednesday, The Community School (6-8 overall, 4-5 league) and Carey (4-5 league) were tied for the third seed in the tournament. If the teams remain tied after Thursday's matches, a coin flip will determine the third seed. Carey defeated Dietrich 3-0 Tuesday.
Richfield leads the conference at 10-0 and will carry the #1 seed. Shoshone is #2 at 7-2. Dietrich is ranked #5 at 2-6 and 0-8 Camas County is the #6 seed. The opening match of the tournament features #3 versus #6 at 2 p.m.
The Community School?s Caroline Fairchild caught in full flight Tuesday against Shoshone. The Indians went on the win the grueling match 3-1.
