Willard falls to Mohawk amid tough stretch

SYCAMORE — Willard is in the midst of its toughest stretch of the season. The Crimson Flashes' schedule pits them against Western Reserve, Huron, Mohawk, and Galion in less than a week. Saturday against Mohawk, it was four tight sets, but Willard lost, 27-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-22, in non-league action. "Mohawk was swinging at us and we were tipping at them or we were out of system," Willard coach Ashley Bond said. "They were passing the ball well enough that we had to defend all the time. We couldn't get a swing at them." The teams split the first two sets. In Set 3, it was the small runs that propelled Mohawk. Tied at 8, Biz Klopp smacked a kill before a lift error was called on the Crimson Flashes (8-4). Mohawk also led by two points at 11-9, 12-10, and 13-11. An ace by Allison Russell, kill by Mia Miller, and kill by Faith Miller pushed the lead to 16-11. Willard drew back within 16-15, but two hitting errors around a kill by Molly Ward kept Mohawk up 19-15. The Warriors (8-0) were able to stay up by at least two points the rest of the way and a kill by AJ Chevalier gave the Warriors the set. "Willard can attack from a lot of different places," Mohawk coach Eric Hoover said. "They have a lot of good size. I thought we got a lot of good touches at the net, which you have to do." Willard never led in Set 4. With Mohawk ahead just 8-7, Mia Miller clobbered back-to-back kills and an ace from Caitlin Ogg pushed the Warriors up 12-7. Later, two errors by Willard made it 16-9. The Flashes made a bit of a run at the lead, getting within two points twice, but the big hitters from Mohawk kept Willard at bay. Mia Miller had three more kills down the stretch and a blast by Avery Hoover on match point ended it for the Warriors. "We're played some really tough teams," Bond said. "We have Huron, Mohawk, and Galion back-to-back. We didn't practice (Friday) because of football. It's a tough schedule. We have to keep our head up." It was a wild back-and-forth affair in the first two sets. Mohawk led by as much as 13-7 in Set 1 after winning seven straight points. The Warriors maintained, but Willard surged in the middle part of the set. Kills by Natalie Slone and Makinley Schaffer along with an ace by Slone tied the set at 19. It was also tied at 22 and 23 before Willard had a set point up 24-23. A kill by Klopp erased that, but the Flashes had another chance after Schaffer's kill. But, Klopp downed a kill, Willard had a hitting error, and Mia Miller bludgeoned a kill to win the first set. "We talked to the team afterwards," Bond said. "We remember the Set 4 loss, but really the Set 1 loss is what set the tone. We should have won Set 1 and that would have put us up. That was huge." There was a lot more back-and-forth in Set 2. The Warriors never trailed all the way to a 17-all tie. The set was again also tied at 18, 19, and 20. Hoover smacked a kill and Mia Miller served an ace to put Mohawk up 22-20. The Flashes kept fighting with a kill by Schaffer and ace from Caitlyn Weaver to tie it at 22. Klopp and Schaffer exchanged kills to make it 23-23. A hitting error by Mohawk gave Willard set point again and it cashed in. This time, Leah Weiss registered a kill to even the match at a set apiece. "Willard is a really good team and play a really tough schedule," Hoover said. "I'm not sure what their record will end up because they play tough matches every night. It is good for us to get competition like that." Miller finished with 20 kills and four blocks while Klopp tallied 19 kills for the Warriors. "We ended up making some big plays at the end," coach Hoover said. "I felt like both teams probably made a lot of mistakes or a lot more than we're used to. There was times where I thought neither team really wanted to win with the mistakes we were making." Kelsey Lykins led Willard with 13 kills while Schaffer finished with 12 kills and two blocks. Slone added 10 kills and three blocks and Weaver tallied 28 assists for the Flashes. "We knew what their middles were going to do," Bond said. "It was a matter of if we could get there and defend it. Obviously, we couldn't."