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AFC Sweeps Orangeville
Lady Raiders bounce back from Monday loss in 25-22, 25-21 win over NUIC rival
Orangeville
Orangeville
By Cody Cutter
Northern Illinois Sports Beat Publisher
FRANKLIN GROVE (Oct. 8) – After being upset by Milledgeville on Monday, the
Ashton-Franklin Center Lady Raiders needed to work on a few things. Picking up
tips was one of them.
Perhaps none was bigger than the recovery from Grace Kennay. With her team
ahead by two at 8-6 in the second game, she recovered a tip from Orangeville's
Katie Boals with her hand touching the floor. The ball hit her forearm and was set
up for a Samantha Vivian kill to go up 9-6. The Lady Broncos wouldn't get any
closer than that as AFC took the second of two games with a score of 25-21,
adding onto their game one win of 25-22.
“Pick up tips, pick up tips, pick up tips; and we did,” said AFC coach Jan Cupp.
“That was one thing we focused on. If they're going to beat us by hitting certain
spots that's fine, we're going to give them that. But if we can keep them from
tipping us to death and still run our offense, we can accomplish something. We did
tonight.”
The Lady Raiders (23-2, 8-2 NUIC East) did not allow a single tip kill in the match.
They had five of their own, all coming in the first game. Ashley Hahn's was the first
AFC point of the match. Kennay then went behind the service line and served up
three points and one ace serve to go up 5-1. Vivian had a kill and a block during
that run.
AFC was up 7-3 before they wound up over-hitting the ball a few times with missed
kills and short serves. It made Orangeville go up 9-7. The Lady Raiders fought
their way back to a tie at 11 after another Vivian kill. It set up a serving run for
Audra Lundquist that saw the Lady Raiders go up 15-11 and take a lead they
wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the game. Another Vivian kill – one that nearly
knocked Orangeville's Ricci Dominick off her feet – gave her team a 13-11 lead.
Orangeville tried to get better for the second game, and was up 2-0 after Brittany
Leverton blocked a kill attempt by Kennay. The deficit was enough to make AFC
roar back for six straight points off the service run of Brittany Simms. Hahn,
Lundquist and Lindsay O'Dell each had kills in the run, and Simms did her part by
serving up two aces.
After Kennay's lucky tip, Orangeville could only get as close as two points to the
Lady Raider lead at 14-12.
“They're really strong,” said Orangeville coach Debra Willhite.
A combination of accurate sets and big blocks was big tonight for AFC. Four Lady
Raider points came off of blocked kills.
“We did a good job in setting up the hitters, and our block made a big difference in
slowing their hits down,” said Cupp. “Our back row loved it, because that makes all
the difference in the world.”
Vivian had nine kills in the match, while Hahn had seven and O'Dell adding four. If
it wasn't for many out-of-bounds kill attempts, AFC may have had the game
wrapped up quicker. Despite having 43 points, Orangeville only had six kills with
Leverton leading with three.
The Lady Raiders will compete in the LaMoille Invitational on Saturday. Orangeville
will compete in the Durand Tournament.
The AFC fresh-soph squad beat Orangeville in three games: 25-11, 23-25 and 25-
23. Lexie James had eight kills for AFC, while Anna Brown had six kills for
Orangeville. AFC served up 19 aces to Orangeville's six.
Note: The game was moved to Franklin Center Middle School in Franklin Grove at
the last minute due to a malfunction in the bleachers at the high school gymnasium.
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat, and writes columns
about Illinois high school sports. He can be reached at
Northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com.
Northern Illinois Sports Beat Publisher
FRANKLIN GROVE (Oct. 8) – After being upset by Milledgeville on Monday, the
Ashton-Franklin Center Lady Raiders needed to work on a few things. Picking up
tips was one of them.
Perhaps none was bigger than the recovery from Grace Kennay. With her team
ahead by two at 8-6 in the second game, she recovered a tip from Orangeville's
Katie Boals with her hand touching the floor. The ball hit her forearm and was set
up for a Samantha Vivian kill to go up 9-6. The Lady Broncos wouldn't get any
closer than that as AFC took the second of two games with a score of 25-21,
adding onto their game one win of 25-22.
“Pick up tips, pick up tips, pick up tips; and we did,” said AFC coach Jan Cupp.
“That was one thing we focused on. If they're going to beat us by hitting certain
spots that's fine, we're going to give them that. But if we can keep them from
tipping us to death and still run our offense, we can accomplish something. We did
tonight.”
The Lady Raiders (23-2, 8-2 NUIC East) did not allow a single tip kill in the match.
They had five of their own, all coming in the first game. Ashley Hahn's was the first
AFC point of the match. Kennay then went behind the service line and served up
three points and one ace serve to go up 5-1. Vivian had a kill and a block during
that run.
AFC was up 7-3 before they wound up over-hitting the ball a few times with missed
kills and short serves. It made Orangeville go up 9-7. The Lady Raiders fought
their way back to a tie at 11 after another Vivian kill. It set up a serving run for
Audra Lundquist that saw the Lady Raiders go up 15-11 and take a lead they
wouldn't relinquish for the rest of the game. Another Vivian kill – one that nearly
knocked Orangeville's Ricci Dominick off her feet – gave her team a 13-11 lead.
Orangeville tried to get better for the second game, and was up 2-0 after Brittany
Leverton blocked a kill attempt by Kennay. The deficit was enough to make AFC
roar back for six straight points off the service run of Brittany Simms. Hahn,
Lundquist and Lindsay O'Dell each had kills in the run, and Simms did her part by
serving up two aces.
After Kennay's lucky tip, Orangeville could only get as close as two points to the
Lady Raider lead at 14-12.
“They're really strong,” said Orangeville coach Debra Willhite.
A combination of accurate sets and big blocks was big tonight for AFC. Four Lady
Raider points came off of blocked kills.
“We did a good job in setting up the hitters, and our block made a big difference in
slowing their hits down,” said Cupp. “Our back row loved it, because that makes all
the difference in the world.”
Vivian had nine kills in the match, while Hahn had seven and O'Dell adding four. If
it wasn't for many out-of-bounds kill attempts, AFC may have had the game
wrapped up quicker. Despite having 43 points, Orangeville only had six kills with
Leverton leading with three.
The Lady Raiders will compete in the LaMoille Invitational on Saturday. Orangeville
will compete in the Durand Tournament.
The AFC fresh-soph squad beat Orangeville in three games: 25-11, 23-25 and 25-
23. Lexie James had eight kills for AFC, while Anna Brown had six kills for
Orangeville. AFC served up 19 aces to Orangeville's six.
Note: The game was moved to Franklin Center Middle School in Franklin Grove at
the last minute due to a malfunction in the bleachers at the high school gymnasium.
Cody Cutter is the Publisher of Northern Illinois Sports Beat, and writes columns
about Illinois high school sports. He can be reached at
Northernillinoissportsbeat@yahoo.com.
AFC's Samantha Vivian (center) makes the final kill of the match against Orangeville.
(Photo by Cody Cutter)
(Photo by Cody Cutter)
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