NORTH ROBINSON - A 48-hour respite was plenty of time to refuel and refocus for Colonel Crawford.
After dropping a four-set match to Buckeye Central on Tuesday, the Eagles responded with a sweep (25-18, 26-24, 25-16) of Mohawk in the Northern 10 third place match Thursday at the Mac Morrison Gymnasium.
'We made a few adjustments and we had a little chat last night at practice," Colonel Crawford coach Jaime Valentine said. "When they decide they can be confident, then we play like a very different team.
"I was very proud of them coming back off that loss, a heartbreaker for us obviously. But knowing we still had to show up today and play. We put in a different kind of lineup last night and they did a great job."
Sophomore Reese Redman led the way with 17 kills, unofficially, Alaina Parr added 11 and Emmi Powers seven.
"Defensively we played a much better game and that was our goal," Valentine said. "We made some adjustments and had to have some freedom to move some kids around to cover some balls that we weren't getting before.
"Our setters didn't have to worry about getting to the net and it was a lot more consistent for our offense and it meshed better overall."
The hosts led 9-3 to open the match despite Mara Haynes' play at the net for Mohawk. She had three of her 10 total kills in that set.
"They have four really good hitters and when we let them get in system all night long it makes for a long night," Mohawk coach Eric Hoover said. "We did not handle the ball well at all.
"We were in position a lot of times, but we were shanking passes that we don't normally do. Some of it was credit to Crawford with what they're giving us. We just couldn't get it going long enough. We had an opportunity to steal one in that second set, but we had mental errors."
Set two featured eight ties, notably Mohawk making it 20 apiece with a Jayla Huffman kill. She added another and Haynes knotted the set at 24-24, but a block from Powers and Mohawk attacking error gave CC the two-point win.
"Instead of finishing it, we found ways to lose it," Hoover said. "We had a lot of errors in every aspect of the game and that's not what we're about as a team."
The Lady Eagles fell behind 3-0 in the third set, but rallied quickly. Miller had a pair of kills, but Redman, Powers and Lila Plesac countered sparking a 12-4 run to key the comeback.
"You're going to run into teams pretty quickly who will make you pay for it," Hoover said. "We'll learn from it and move on, getting back to playing the way we can play."
Colonel Crawford moves to 17-5 while Mohawk is 18-4 heading into their respective sectional tournaments next week.
The Lady Eagles host the winner of Tuesday's Division V sectional semifinal between Wynford and Edison, Mohawk welcomes Seneca East in a D-VI sectional final — both matches are at 6 p.m. on Thursday.
"We're prepared for next week with the winner of Wynford and Edison, then either Willard or Oak Harbor," Valentine said. "We're excited to be a part of it, and hopefully make it to Bluffton University and play for a district championship."
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Colonel Crawford sweeps state-ranked Mohawk in N10 third place match