Volleyball: Elyria Catholic forces five sets but falls to Bay

ELYRIA — When both teams had to dig deep, Bay had just a little more fuel in the tank in its five-set Great Lakes Conference win in the sweltering Coliseum at Elyria Catholic. The Rockets (2-0, 1-0 GLC) stormed out to a two-set lead, taking advantage of 11 unforced errors from the Panthers (0-2, 0-2) in the first set before using a 13-2 run to close out the second. Elyria Catholic fought back, winning the third set 25-16 and the fourth set 25-17. The Panthers took an 8-3 lead in the fifth and deciding set, but the Rockets won 12 of the next 16 points to claim the match. "I'm impressed they dug deep," Panthers' coach Barb Shuckman said. "We lost three not really close ones to Buckeye on Tuesday, then lost the first two tonight. I even told them I was impressed how they fought back and forced a fifth set." Senior Sydney Yanak spearheaded the Elyria Catholic comeback. She had seven of her team-high 15 kills in the turnaround third set and went on a seven-point scoring run late in the fourth to give the Panthers control. "It was nice to see her take over," Shuckman said of Yanak. "We had her at outside on Tuesday and I moved her back to middle. I think for high school she's very comfortable at middle and I used her at setter because Rory (Turrill) is injured. She was a really good leader out there today." Bay coach Katie McCarthy liked how her team fought back late in the match. "That's the kind of team we've been and the kind of team we are," McCarthy said. "We never give up. Even when we were down in the third set and fourth set, my girls knew we were never out of it. They have a lot of heart and that really showed tonight. "They wanted it. They didn't want to be out here for five sets and lose, especially in this heat." Yanak also liked the fight the Panthers exhibited. "I'm beyond proud," she said. "My team knew (Bay) was a good match for us, and to be able to come back and win those next two sets ... the team was awesome for that. We played so hard in the third set and we're going to learn from it." Junior Avery Rion led the Rockets with 15 kills and five solo blocks. Sophomore Lauren Maxwell added 13 kills and three aces while senior Brooke Brewer led Bay with 41 digs and added four solo blocks. Junior Ashley Garapic had 10 kills for the Panthers while sophomore Gabby Griffin chipped in 20 assists and three aces. Contact Mike Perry at 329-7135 or macsportstalk@gmail.com.