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Marauders claim close 5-setter

Pictured is action from Wednesday's game in South Dayton. Photo by Madison Herman.

SOUTH DAYTON — The Dunkirk Marauders continued their successful start to league play (4-1) with a close five set victory over the Pine Valley Panthers on Wednesday night, 25-18, 25-18, 18-25, 19-25, 25-22.

“We are super excited to come away with the victory,” said Dunkirk coach Kate Stahlman. “After our first loss on Monday, the girls were devastated, so it is good to get back at doing the things that we are capable of doing.”

The Marauders started quick in the first two sets. Pine Valley fought back hard in both, but dug themselves into too big of a hole to overcome. After the Marauders claimed the first five points of the second set, Pine Valley responded to tie the game at eight. After going back and forth in the set, Dunkirk pulled away by scoring the last five points, finishing on an ace from Jessica Vasquez.

“We are always trying to focus on our communication,” Stahlman stated. “That is something we continue to improve on and as we play as a team, we are not as tense during the pressure moments.”

The Panthers (1-2, 3-2) showed their character by coming back in the third set. The Panthers scored the first seven points of the set, highlighted by quality serving from Hannah O’Neil. They continued to have effective passing and utilized the full court, finishing on a kill from Lyric Westlund.

Pine Valley continued that momentum in the fourth set. After surrendering the first two points, the Panthers went on a 12-2 run. Dunkirk responded with eight consecutive points, highlighted by serving from Vasquez and two kills by Nadara Odell. Sadie Fadale followed with six quality serves for the Panthers to give them a lead that they never turned back to in the set.

“We showed a lot of resiliency to come back when we did not play well to begin with,” said Pine Valley coach Kaitlin Hoth. “However, we made too many mistakes at key moments that are too difficult to overcome.”

In the fifth set, Dunkirk built a lead early, before Pine Valley tied it up at 12. Vasquez followed with back to back aces to go up 22-17. Once Pine Valley got the point, Westlund chipped in with quality serves and a kill by Madison Meabon to bring the Panthers within one at 22-21. Dunkirk would close out the match on a service error by the Panthers. Stahlman added, “They got into our head during the middle of the match. However, we came together and gave 100%, never backing down to the finish.”

Odell finished with six kills for the Marauders while Vasquez tallied seven aces. Jessica Beehler chipped in with four kills while Amari Carter had four kills.

The Panthers were led by Morgan Sandy with 12 digs, 10 assists, three kills, and two aces. Westlund added seven digs and four kills. Sadie Fadale contributed with nine digs, four kills, and four aces while O’Neil chipped in with seven aces and five digs.

“We tend to like to play five set matches,” Hoth added. “We did not come out strong early and it is tough to win three sets in a row. We can’t continue to put ourselves in these situations.”

Dunkirk looks to continue its success on Monday against Silver Creek while Pine Valley hosts Silver Creek today.

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