North v South: another one for the Ages.

North, South – those words by themselves symbolize rivalry. And for Tri County North it was also their homecoming, which added to the already tense atmosphere. For years the two Panther teams have dueled on the field. These games are usually battles and this year’s edition added another page to that legacy. The two teams kept the crowd on the edge of their seats all four quarters.

North came into the game with momentum, winning their last two games – one of those being an upset of Miami East. South has struggled this season and has only a single victory. But as always, records are meaningless when these two teams take the field. The offensive fireworks would happen in the first half and the game would become a defensive stalemate in the second half.

North went to work on their opening drive, and aided by a couple of South penalties would score first on a JJ MacPherson 20 yard run. But South bounced back and scored on their first drive as well. Michael Burke connected with Tony Combs on a pass to put the ball in North territory. They ran the ball, then went back to the pass where this time Combs caught a 19 yard TD. The extra point was missed, so North stayed ahead 7-6.

The next score was set up when North quarterback Austin Hustchins was pressured in the pocket and had to scramble. When he done running, he had gone about 40 yards and put the ball on the 2 yard line where he would run a quarterback sneak for the score. On the ensuing South series North’s Eli Davidson would have the defensive play of the night when he snagged a South pass and ran about 37 yards for a North touchdown. This defensive touchdown would turn out to be a big one and put North on top 21-6.

But South’s Michael Burke wanted to show that North didn’t have the only quarterback who run and score. In the last half of the second quarter, he ran a keeper about 45 yards for a touchdown. And in their last possession of the quarter it looked like South had ran a hook and ladder play for a score, only to have it called back on an illegal forward lateral. Then Jacob Schneider sacked the South quarterback on the next play to end the South drive and hopes to draw even before halftime. South's Bobby Green also had a tackle for loss in the first half.

So at halftime the score stood 21-14 in favor of North. Now the two teams hunkered down and played some tough nosed defensive football. North ended one South drive at the 20 yard line when Austin Hutchins intercepted a pass from his counterpart. Both teams defenses held tough on 4th down situations numerous times. North ended another South drive at midfield on a big 4th down play and South ended a North drive on a 4th and 3 play on their own 12. But at the other end of the field North stopped South on a 4th and 2 inside their 30. Neither defense was breaking and both offenses were using all of their downs - shooting all their bullets each series.

There was about a minute and half left in the game when the North coach decided to go for it on 4th and 7 at midfield. The quarterback keeper was denied and South was back in business. They moved the ball to about the North 30 – and time was counting down. But the North defense stepped it up once again when Caleb Lawson pulled down a South pass to end their hopes with about 17 seconds left in the game. This was definitely a memorable game for the grit and determination showed by these two teams from the opening kickoff to the final horn.

Coach Derringer had this to say about the game, “South was very prepared for us. They came out and played a great ball game. We came out on the opening drive and stuck it in the endzone. But then they responded on their first drive stuck in the endzone too. From that point on it was pretty much a dogfight. We told the kids this week that the North South game you can throw out the records. It’s a big rivalry game and it doesn’t matter who has the better record at the time.”

"Our defense has been playing well. We had some breakdowns against Bethel, but from the Covington game on, they have been getting after people. We had the three interceptions, and on Davidson’s, he is a defensive end and recognized the half back pass and dropped back underneath and made an outstanding play – running it back in for a touchdown. Michael Olinger, our fullback, was really relied upon in the 4th quarter when we were trying to chug out positive yardage and hoped to get an insurance score. “ Next week North plays at winless National Trail, while South hosts Miami East.

TVS def. Arcanum in a non-league contest in straight sets: 25-16, 25-13, 25-13
Jordan Hickey 6 digs, 2 saves, 27 assists, 2 kills, a solo block and a block assist
Laura Ingram an ace, 8 digs, 10 kills
Taylor Baker 3 digs, 8 kills and a block assist
Katherine Leach an ace, 7 digs, 6 kills
Emily Burge 3 aces, 5 digs, 3 kills
Emily Froment an ace, 5 kills
Kim Perry an ace, 18 of 20 on serve receive, 25 digs
Gentry Gates an ace, 2 assists
Coach Roberts Stated that, "Everything tonight was evenly distributed. As with any match we continue to strive to play our best volleyball and work on ball control issues."

10/5 TVS def. Newton in league play 25-12, 25-22, 25-18
Jordan Hickey 17 digs, 3 saves, 25 assists, 3 kills, a solo block
Laura Ingram an ace, 10 digs, 12 kills, and a block assist
Taylor Baker 9 kills, 3 solo blocks and a block assist
Katherine Leach an ace, 8 digs, two assists, 3 kills
Katherine was key for us tonight. When she controlled her serve we were able to execute our offense very well.
Emily Burge 3 aces, 10 digs, 5 kills
Emily Froment an ace, 2 digs, 4 kills and two solo blocks
Kim Perry 2 aces, 22 digs
Coach Roberts, "Hats off to Newton, they served us tough. As a result we had some problems on serve receive. A good reminder to keep our practice performance focus. . . drill, "baby," drill . . ."

At the Dixie Tri meet with Stebbins
10/9 TVS def Dixie 25-14, 25-9

10/9 TVS def Stebbins 25-19, 25-15
Coach Roberts, "Individual stats were not as important today as the total team effort. Everyone saw a little time today and that might
become key down the stretch. It continued to be all about team in the match against Stebbins as well." TVS improved its overall record to 18-2, league 8-2 (2nd is still a three way tie)

Upcoming matches for the final week of regular season (DRAW is tomorrow www.swdab.org)
10/11 Franklin Monroe
10/14 VOLLEY FOR THE CURE with Bradford doors open for raffle ticket purchases at 4:45PM
On behalf on the event, the TVS volleyball team would like to invite you to our
match in support of breast cancer awareness, education and all who have been touched
by this devastating disease.
THANK YOU sincerely for considering a donation.
Please make your checks payable to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.
You can forward all contributions for the match to:
Twin Valley South
c/o Volley for the Cure
100 Education Dr.
West Alexandria, OH 45381

Thanks to Coach Roberts

North Over Pats, Newton

On Tuesday, TCN traveled to Tri-Village for a league match up. Tri-Village was a little short handed with a couple of suspensions, and I think that showed up in their play. Their serve reception really struggled, and their communication on the court struggled as they had several balls hit the floor. They had a couple of nice hitters, but were unable to get the ball to them because of their poor ball control. On our side of the court, he thought Megan had her best game of her career as she led us in aces and kills. He thought Sara did a good job of getting her the ball, as Megan had the hot hand for us. Katie really did a good job on defense for us as she led us with 15 digs. Katie continues to improve her ability to read hitters, and she does a good job of placing herself in position to make defensive plays. He thought Carly Schriever also had a solid night with 6 aces and 4 blocks. Carly's blocking has been pretty strong all season long, as she rarely mistimes her block. Emily has continued to get better as our opposite hitter as she contributed with 6 kills. Aukerman liked how my team stayed focus with the lopsided scores and he felt like they played pretty strong all the way through. It was also a night for TCN to take a look at a couple of my subs at the Varsity level, and he thought they handled things pretty well. We defeated Tri-Village by the scores of 25-14, 25-12, and 25-13. Stats for the game are Bierly 1 ace, 4 digs, 23 assists, 2 blocks; Kelly Schriever 9 digs, 4 kills; Johnson 5 aces, 3 digs, 9 kills 2 blocks; Broughton 1 ace, 3 aces, 6 kills; Carly Schriever 3 aces, 1 dig, 6 kills, 4 blocks; Ullery 4 kills, 1 block; Whitaker 4 aces, 15 digs; Vanover 1 dig.

On Thursday, TCN hosted Newton. Newton has had some solid wins this year, and the first game was a challenge all the way through. North trailed all the way through the first game and found a way at the end to win. North was very fortunate to win that first game. Coach Aukerman thought North made some pretty good plays down the stretch to win that game, and if we hadn't won that first game, the night could have been completely different. He wish my team would have stepped up their play sooner, but he gave to give credit to Newton, they hit the ball pretty well, and their defense was impressive. After that first game, Newton lost their confidence. Coach Aukerman thought his servers stepped up and created passing problems for Newton, which always helps our offense as they gave us several freeballs. Megan once again had a solid night as she continues to improve her hitting game, but Aukerman thought we were more balanced in this game. Aukerman thought Sara did a better job of getting all of her hitters involved, which always makes us more competitive. We had good production out of Kelly on the outside and Mallorie in the middle that kept Newton offbalance. Katie did a good job with her serving as she led us in aces. By the third game, Newton had trouble with all aspects of the game, and we were leading them 17-2. At that point, Aukerman thought we should see our subs for the rest of the match. After a couple of shakey plays, he thought they did a good job of settling down, and they played pretty well. We finished off Newton by the scores of 25-23, 25-10, and 25-12. Stats for the game are Bierly 4 digs, 20 assists, 1 block; Kelly Schriever 2 aces, 9 digs, 3 assists, 6 digs; Johnson 9 digs, 1 assist, 9 kills, 2 blocks; Broughton 5 digs, 2 kills, 2 blocks; Carly Schriever 2 aces, 2 digs, 2 kills, 2 blocks; Ullery 4 kills, 3 blocks; Whitaker 7 aces, 15 digs; Schoen 1 dig, 1 kill; Marshall 2 digs, 1 kill; Vanover 2 digs.

Special Thanks to Coach Aukerman