Willard falls to Pleasant in Sweet 16

ELIDA — Willard constantly found itself behind. The Crimson Flashes' biggest lead in either of the first two sets Wednesday was just one point. After winning a marathon third set, Willard couldn't keep the momentum going. Marion Pleasant bounced back and picked up a 25-17, 25-21, 31-33, 25-16 win in a Division V regional semifinal at the Elida Fieldhouse. "They weren't making mistakes," Willard coach Ashley Bond said of the Spartans. "Their hitters were being smart. If they didn't have a swing, they were finding a spot to hit it. They weren't all-American power hitters, but they have some good hitters and were being smart about it." The Flashes finish the season with a record of 22-4, co-champions of the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division. "This really, really stinks and I can't take the pain away," Bond said. "The girls in that locker room were only ones in school history to win back-to-back SBC championships and only ones to get to regionals two years in a row. They should be proud. They're a special group." After winning a wild Set 3 in which it fended off seven match points, Willard couldn't keep the momentum going in the fourth set. The Flashes led early, but the Spartans (25-1) won points in bunches to build on their lead. Up 11-9, Pleasant took the next four points to go up 15-9. After a net violation on the Spartans, Pleasant got a kill from Kamryn Cocherl and net violation on Willard to lead 17-10. The Flashes couldn't make a run at the deficit as the Spartans kept coming. Pleasant got kills from Kamryn Cocherl, Kaivyn Cocherl and Lexi Hutchinson to bring up match point. Willard won a pair of points to keep the match going, but Faith McCants' kill gave the Spartans the victory. "We started off with an ace in the fourth set and I thought that was going to be it," Bond said. "We were on a run and everything was going our way, including the calls. All of a sudden, it seemed like no matter what the bounce was, it all shifted to their favor. Nothing was going our way late. It wasn't our night." The Spartans, who were Division VI runners-up to Coldwater last season, led just 12-11 in Set 1 when they got going. Kills from Kamryn Cocherl and Hutchinson helped Pleasant take a 15-11 lead. A kill by Willard's Leah Weiss stopped the run, but the Spartans kept coming. Pleasant won five more points in a row later to go up 21-14. Consecutive aces by Kam Roberts aided the run. From there, Willard was chasing from behind. Pleasant went up 24-15 on a hitting error by Willard. A service error and block by Camryn Weirs only prevented the inevitable. A kill from Madilyn Malcom put the Spartans up 1-0. Pleasant carried that momentum into the second set. This time, the Spartans raced out to an 8-3 lead. Kills from Cocherl and Quinn Wilson gave Pleasant the early lead it rode the rest of the set. Willard closed the gap to three points a few times including 11-8 only for Pleasant to respond. The Spartans went back up 14-10 and added the next four points for an 18-10 lead. The Flashes got some momentum and drew as close as 21-18 after two kills from Natalie Slone, but again, Pleasant had the answer. This time, Kaivyn Cocherl and Kamryn Cocherl each lined kills. Willard hung close, but Kamryn Cocherl blasted one final kill to put the Spartans up 2-0. Willard kept fighting in the third set. The Flashes went up 4-1 early, but found itself down 14-10 later. The Flashes used a run to go up 21-17. Pleasant used a timeout and scored the next seven points to bring up three match points. The Spartans smacked three straight errors to tie the set at 24. Pleasant had leads of 27-26, 28-27, 30-29 and 31-30, but each time, Willard kept its season alive. Oppositely, the Flashes had chances to win the set at 25-24, 26-25 and 29-28. With the set tied at 31, Wiers clobbered a kill. With a fourth set point up, Teagan Schaffer and Paige Adams combined on a block to give Willard the set and draw within 2-1. "I would have never, ever thought in Set 3 we'd be able to pull off something like that," Bond said. "We didn't start off well, but I told them I'm incredibly proud of what they did in Set 3. They didn't give up and were able to come back. It was a marathon to pull it out." Kamryn Cocherl, who is committed to Division I Georgia Southern and came in averaging almost 19 kills per match, finished with 21 kills. "We kept holding them and holding them," said Bond of the wild third set. "We'd get momentum and then we'd lose it. Then we'd get it and then we'd lose it. Then they got their big girl in the front, but we were still able to do it. That just shows how much heart we have. The seniors really stepped up in that set." Slone finished with 14 kills for Willard while Weiss had eight kills. Wiers added seven kills. Wiers, Slone, Schaffer and Adams are seniors for the Flashes, who were 44-8 over the past two seasons. "They had to endure three new setters and a new libero," Bond said. "We had a new defense and offense. Everything was new and they didn't bat an eye. They just did it and they led the entire way. Otherwise, we wouldn't be where we were without them. They're just top notch."