Lady Mikes halt Frazier’s winning streak at 86
Frazier has ruled its section in girls volleyball for the past seven years, sweeping every match against its conference foes since 2010.
As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end, and the Lady Commodores’ mammoth 86-match winning streak did just that on Tuesday night in their Section 2-A opener at Carmichaels.
In an epic five-game battle, the Lady Mikes’ Grace Kerr set up teammate Kristina Aeschbacher for the winning point in the fifth game to give Carmichaels a 3-2 victory.
The roller-coaster battle saw the Lady Mikes jump out to a 2-0 lead with wins of 25-19 and 25-22, only to have coach Mandy Hartman’s squad storm back to pull even with two straight 25-23 wins.
Carmichaels (1-0, 1-0) regrouped and prevailed in the fifth game, 15-13.
Frazier’s last section loss came in the 2009 regular-season finale at Jefferson-Morgan. The two teams finished 11-1 in the section that year to tie for first place.
“It’s definitely a huge win for us and our program,” Carmichaels coach Ashley Shoemaker said. “We were neck and neck almost the entire night.”
Aeschbacher wound up with 11 kills and six blocks while Kerr tallied 23 assists. Meighan Spishock totaled 13 kills and 10 service points for the Lady Mikes, who also got strong performances from Aubree Ferek (13 service points), Micaela Ricco (11 service points) and Jadyn Barnish (18 assists).
“It was definitely a group effort,” Shoemaker said. “Our setters figured out who was hot and who to get the ball to, and we had contributions from everyone across the board.
“They all really stepped up tonight.”
Still, the Lady Commodores (0-1, 0-1) had all the momentum heading into the fifth game, having rallied with consecutive two-point wins.
“Before that last one I reminded them about all the hard work they put in, working all year round, and to make sure not to let all that effort go to waste here,” Shoemaker said. “I tried to keep them focused on playing our game and told them to remain positive and keep their emotions in check. You have to play with a lot of heart but you have to play with 20-20 vision, too.
“I wanted them to truly believe they can do it … and they did it.”
Shoemaker thought her team benefited from a trip to Disney World in Orlando for the KSA Events Labor Day High School Volleyball Tournament.
“Playing some other teams outside our area I think gave them a different perspective and a confidence boost,” Shoemaker said. “Also, our girls have all come up through our program and I think the consistency through all that has solidified their play and given them confidence in their selves and each other.”
Shoemaker doesn’t want her team to dwell too long on its win over Frazier.
“Now I just want to make sure their thoughts are on the next game we’re playing, which is at West Greene on Thursday,” Shoemaker said. “You can only play one game at a time and right now, the game in front of us is the only one that matters.”
Even so, it’d be hard to blame the Lady Mikes if they want to savor Tuesday night’s victory for a little while longer.