KENTLAND — With a season that has included six five-set losses, the Caston volleyball team looked to put those close losses behind them and be a tough out in the tournament this week.
The Comets took DeMotte Christian’s best punch but still rolled in four games, 25-22, 25-27, 25-18, 25-9, Tuesday in the first match of the Class 1A South Newton Sectional.
The Comets (9-22), who would be nearly .500 had they reversed their luck in five-setters, seem to be playing their best volleyball of the season and they got better as the match went on Tuesday. They recorded their third win this year against DeMotte (5-21).
“This is our third time meeting this team this season, and they were getting a little harder to beat every time we met them,” Caston coach Delonna Logan said. “I had my concerns, but my girls responded great and did well.”
The Comets were led by the 1-2 punch of 6-foot-2 senior Natalie Warner and 5-9 junior Callie Salisbury. That duo just might give them a chance against No. 11 South Newton (22-9) Saturday.
“They both play with a lot of confidence always,” Logan said. “Even when they’re off, they can usually figure that out and try to bring that in a little bit and make some moves that maybe will throw off the defense a little bit when we can. If those hits are just going a little too long every time, then let’s try to get a little bit harder tip over, push over, those kind of things. Both those ladies read that well and take the great opportunities when they can to take those advantages.”
The Comets have also gotten a boost by the return of one of the best athletes in the area, senior Madisyn Douglass, who is helping out in the back row and serving five months removed from surgery to repair a torn ACL. Her absence probably led to some of those close losses.
“For the team, I think they’ve accepted her well with open arms and are happy to see her back,” Logan said. “She’s another positive person on the floor, a key person and definitely a leader. ... She’s just that natural leader on the floor and the girls respond well to that.”
The Comets have had some recent defections and lost a player to an ankle injury, senior Baylee Harrison.
Logan said junior setters Gigi Berry and Ellie Zartman stepped up Tuesday.
“I had concerns rolling into this when things came up late in the day and having to tell Gigi, ‘Congratulations, you get to play all the way around tonight.’ But both of them, they stepped up really well,” she said. “They worked well together. I thought that they actually were probably playing some of their best volleyball tonight and was really proud of both of them.”
The Comets played HNAC champion Triton to a close four-setter last week which has given them some confidence this week.
“I talked when we went into that game that we were an underdog with no expectations, and we fought hard with them," Logan said. "I told them that we’re definitely not the team that they expected to see and a couple of things could have gone our way and it could have been a different outcome. I told them I was still really proud of them that night, frustrated as much as they were that we weren’t able to pull away with it, but again, for the team that we were playing and the expectations, I couldn’t have asked for better.
"So coming into tonight, yes, I believe these girls had confidence over the moon coming into this. And actually I was a little scared for that and maybe had to remind them that it’s our third time and they’re out for blood this time. But the girls responded well to that, and like I said, even with that tough second set loss, they still fought and I was happy to see that and happy to see the response that they came back.”
Caston plays South Newton at 11 a.m. EST Saturday. The Rebels are the two-time defending champion and sectional favorite. They beat a 22-6 West Central team in four games Tuesday, 25-12, 22-25, 25-19, 25-19.
Thursday’s matches between Tri-County vs. North Newton and North White vs. Pioneer will determine the later semifinal. The final is at 7 p.m. Saturday.
South Newton beat Caston 25-21, 25-15 at a tournament back in August.
“We did well that first set against them, keeping it close and then mental set in for the second,” Logan said. “I think that the team that I took off the court tonight, if that team comes back to play on Saturday, I think we’ll be a force to be reckoned with.”