Hard-hitting El Paso-Gridley ends Princeton’s season

MINONK – After letting two game points slip away in the first set, the Princeton Tigresses were starting to gain a little momentum in the second set of Tuesday’s Class 2A Fieldcrest Regional semifinal, using a 7-0 run to take an 11-5 lead.

They still led by six points at 13-7 and held a 14-11 edge.

El Paso-Gridley’s Aubrey Phillips wasn’t going to let the Tigresses go any further.

The hard-hitting EPG senior hit for five straight points during a 6-0 Titans run to give them a 19-17 lead.

The Titans rode Phillips’ spark to a second-set victory to win the match 27-25, 25-21.

“They’re the No. 2 seed in the subsectional for a reason. They’re just good. They’re dynamite,” Princeton coach Andy Puck said. “Their transition game is by far the best we’ve seen all year. When we hit a ball, they dig and set and come back hitting at us, and they were terminating us.

“But I give our kids a ton of credit. We battled. Taking a breath when we can. Staying poised, battling for the next point. I’m happy. I don’t feel that’s a loss. I really don’t because we played about as good as we possibly could. That’s the best we could play. The best we could play.”

“We definitely ended up on a high note, playing our best volleyball,” PHS senior Ellie Harp said with tears in her eyes. “We ended very well. I’m very proud of how we played.”

Keely Lawson served a pair of aces to give the Tigresses a 7-5 lead in Game 2, and followed two hits by Harp with another ace to send PHS on the way to an 11-6 lead.

With Princeton leading 14-10, Phillips took matters in her own hands with her string of five kills to tie the game at 16.

The Tigresses hung close on a Lawson kill to tie the game at 17 and block by Kathy Maciczak cut an EPG lead to 20-19.

Phillips finished what she started with her 17th kill of the night to send the Titans to Thursday’s final.

“When you get a good lead like that, you’ve got to keep pushing, which we did, but they just kept creeping up, little by little,” Harp said.

Puck and Harp said that kind of hitting was too much to overcome.

“That’s 17 points [Phillips’ kills] on the board and we’re at zero and we still had chances to win,” he said.

“Twenty-nine [Phillips] really killed us on the outside and 14 [Addi Hale],” Harp said. “They’re all good hitters. Placed it well. Saw our blocks, which is what a good team does.”

EPG coach Andrea Hardwick said the Titans played to their strength.

“We were just working on staying confident and knowing we have some big hitters. We depend on that and they came through,” she said. “They were definitely really scrappy and working hard on defense to pick up stuff and they did a great job digging us.”

Princeton (20-15) made a late charge in the opening set, using a 7-1 run to put itself two points away from taking the win.

Princeton setter Makayla Hecht pulled a page out of her big sister’s book, former Tigress McKenzie, with a kill shot and then ran a quick with Maciczak for a kill to tie the game at 19. Maciczak followed with another spike to put the Tigresses up 20-19, celebrating with a chest bump with teammate Keighley Davis.

Harp hit for another PHS lead at 21-20. A Princeton block and a hitting error by EPG put the Tigresses on the threshold of victory at 24-22.

The Titans, however, spoiled the PHS party, scoring three straight to go up 25-24. Maciczak kept the Tigresses in it with a cross shot only to have EPG score the final two points for a 27-25 win.

“We had to win that first set,” Puck said. “In my experience for doing this a lot of years, that first one means a lot.”

EPG also beat Princeton in last year’s regional semifinals 25-17, 25-20.

Hecht finished with a team-high 11 points, two aces, 17 assists and seven digs.

Puck said he’s going to really miss his two seniors, Harp and Karsyn Brucker, who has been injured.

“Ellie’s been up with us since her sophomore year. She’s really been the nucleus of this team,” he said. “When she’s on the court, good things happen. She’s a calming voice. She’s that quiet captain, quiet leader.

“Karsyn didn’t have the kind of year she wanted. Her best volleyball is ahead of her [in college]. She’s finally healthy. Haven’t seen her healthy in a year and half.”

The Titans (27-7) advance to face Eureka in Thursday’s final. The Hornets beat IVC 25-13, 25-17 in Tuesday’s nightcap.