The Times area volleyball: Low-energy Fieldcrest rolls by Flanagan-Cornell

FLANAGAN – The ability to adjust to a variety of factors in a volleyball match is a very underrated skill, one that the Fieldcrest Knights had going for them in their Heart of Illinois Conference match against Flanagan-Cornell on Thursday night.

The Falcons, maybe not so much.

Playing in a very low-key, very businesslike manner, the Knights slowly adjusted to the different defensive schemes Flanagan-Cornell was throwing at them and eventually managed to find a way around them all to remain undefeated in 11 matches this season with a 25-14, 25-21 victory over the Falcons.

Allie Wiesenhofer recorded nine kills, 11 digs and a club-best nine points, while Ashlyn May added seven kills and six points, Carolyn Megow had 13 digs, and Kate White dished 13 assists to pace Fieldcrest to the win, its fifth in as many conference matches this season.

Flanagan-Cornell saw its three-match win streak snapped, dropping it to 11-10, 2-2 despite five kills and five assists from Kourtney Harms, five kills from Grace Zimmerman, five assists from Raegan Montello, and two digs from Kalynne Kindermann.

“I feel our energy was still a little low tonight, but these girls know when they need to step up, and they did that tonight,” Fieldcrest coach Cathy Sanders said. “Playing against Flanagan, we get exposed to things we haven’t seen, like a one-blocker system, different defenses, so the girls have to find different ways to score points. They understood that and it made a difference. We were adjusting on the fly, learning and moving forward, getting better for the next match.

“I know the score got a little close, but I always felt like we were in control. These girls know from their experiences in this and other sports when to step back, adjust, refocus and move on.”

The Falcons struggled with a little bit of adversity in the opening set when head coach Joe Estes was ejected for arguing that Knights middle Kaylin Reints had reached over the net to tap down a pass to F-C setter Kindermann and it was not called.

That point put the now-distracted Flanagan-Cornell squad down 10-5, and it took a while for it to rebound. Fieldcrest’s Carolyn Megow served the next two points as her team rolled out to a commanding 23-11 lead.

The second set was much more competitive, the Falcons taking an 8-7 lead on a terrific rally after playing the ball off the ceiling. That’s when Wiesenhofer slammed a sideout kill then served four straight points, two on kills by May, for a 12-8 edge. A pair of kills by Reints around another by Zoey Dye widened it to 17-12, and kills by those two took it to 20-13.

Down 23-17, the Falcons rallied, with kills by Grace Zimmerman and Chassie Bednaza helping a Marlee Highland service burst close to within 23-21 before a hitting error and May’s last kill closed out the match.

“There’s a reason why they’re undefeated. They’re a solid team all-around,” said F-C assistant coach Maya Estes, who finished the game at the helm for her father. “I felt we played well at the net, we served pretty strong and, though our defense was a little shaky at times, when we were on, we were on … but they’re a very good defensive team. We were swinging well and got lucky a few times finding place where they weren’t, but while we were swinging pretty well, they were just better at picking the ball up.”

Fieldcrest will host its Knights Invitational beginning at 8 a.m. on Saturday, while Flanagan-Cornell will host Marquette at 6 p.m. next Monday.