WALKERVILLE — In what coach Kelly Pascavis called a "chaotic" first-round district matchup Monday night, Pentwater struggled to adjust to Baldwin's unpredictable hitting, and the Falcons lost a close battle, 25-22, 18-25, 25-19, 25-23, to end their season with a 6-13 record.
The two teams played a close match in the regular season that Pentwater won, so it was not a surprise that the two teams nearly went to the wire again, but Pascavis said her team struggled to maintain confidence as the struggles piled up on the Falcons.
"They just weren't mentally continuing to play, and they were dreading mistakes instead of moving around," Pascavis said.
"They weren't talking and communicating back and forth, and when they were, it wasn't loud enough to really take control, so a lot of times when that happens, if you say, 'Mine,' and you're not aggressive and assertive with it, then it makes the other girls feel unsure if they're going to get it. That's when you get the chaotic and the collision. All of a sudden, all three of them (feel) like, 'Oh, you had it.' Someone just needed to be the aggressor and take it."
The match might have swung in game one, which saw the Falcons grab an early 10-3 lead but let it get away. Baldwin sparked a run by winning a long rally between the teams, storming back to go on a 13-1 scoring binge that gave the Panthers control.
Pentwater pushed back and got to within a point at 22-21, but committed a service error and was unable to get over the hump.
Pentwater appeared to have shaken off those issues when it took advantage of some Panther miscues to grab the lead in game two en route to the win. Abby Roberts had a key kill late in game two to help the Falcons to the win.
Pentwater's Riley Swanger chases a ball down to keep it in play during Monday's district match in Baldwin. Swanger's play led to a Falcons' point, but Baldwin won, 3-1.
However, game three saw those struggles return, and that's where Pascavis felt Baldwin's haphazard hitting played to its advantage. Several times the Panthers hit the ball in an unconventional way and the Falcons struggled to adjust.
"When the ball comes over like that, it's a little bit harder to start slowing it back down, and that's why I kept telling them, 'You guys just need to slow it down, get on our pace and work on our pace'" Pascavis said. "They started getting hard on themselves, and then we slowly lose it. Volleyball is all mental, and once one player gets down, a second player gets down, a third player gets down, and then eventually the whole team's just coming down."
Baldwin grabbed an early 7-2 lead in game four, and the Falcons' comeback efforts fell short. It seemed every time Pentwater got close, it made an untimely error to halt its momentum. The Falcons got as close as two points a few times and had the deficit down to one at 24-23, but Baldwin held on for the win.
The silver lining for the Falcons was that no one's careers came to an end Monday, as the team didn't have any seniors on it. A few team members will be playing at the club level in the offseason - Pascavis hoped they would play together on one club, but that didn't happen - which should inspire optimism for next fall.
"I think a lot of that was mental, but it was also getting caught standing and not being prepared to make that quick adjustment," Pascavis said. "It was a little of both, mental and just not moving and executing like they needed and what they know to do. They're a talented team...I'm proud of them."
