After five close sets, Fossil completes the third round of State with a victory against sixth seed Pine Creek. They play again tomorrow at 2:00 pm.
Fossil started off strong, Ally Nowak gaining a four-point lead for her team through her serves. Pine Creek called a timeout 9-5 which unfortunately worked when small mistakes such as serving and hitting errors began to surface on Fossil’s side of the court.
Pine Creek gained the lead and although the score stayed neck-and-neck it was not looking good for Fossil. The Sabercats called a timeout 14-15, this sparked a fire in the Sabercats as Emery Johnson got a kill the next point.
Fossil maintained their strength on the court and were just two points shy of winning the set when Pine Creek got a kill, then another. Fossil called a timeout 23-24 in an attempt to win the set. The Eagles kept the lead and took the game, Fossil lost 23-25.
The Sabercats came back harder and from the beginning of the set they took the lead, forcing the Eagles to call a timeout 5-9 while the student section shouted “Ridge is back in town”.
Pine Creek came back harder and the game stayed within a point range, the stakes staying high. Each server only got a chance to serve once or twice before the other team delivered a crushing kill. Fossil called a timeout 22-23.
Neither team would let up until Johnson stepped up as server and delivered the winning ace, Fossil won the second set 29-27.
Strong after a win, Fossil took on the third set by leading it. Consistent hitters such as Erin Herrmann and Johnson were vital in the Sabercats’ success in this set.
The Eagles began to come back but not before Fossil called a timeout at 15-16 to rewrite their wrongs. From there Fossil flourished while the Eagles crumbled, all until they called their second timeout of the set at 24-21.
The Sabercats had the win but after the timeout, Fossil lost four points in a row. The score was tied and it was anyone’s game. The Sabercats called a timeout 24-25, but that did not help in the end and the Sabercats lost 25-27.
The pattern remained the same for the fourth set, Fossil took the lead once again. The Eagles first called a timeout 11-6 but the Sabercats kept the lead causing the second timeout to be called at 19-13.
This worked for the Eagles as the score tightened as it got to the end of the set, but Fossil pulled ahead as Ally Nowak served them to victory along with kills from Liv Ewing and excellent sets from Kaylee Piepho. Fossil won 25-18.
Delaney Ewing and Johnson started the set off with kills, Fossil was headed towards victory. Unlike other sets when the Eagles pulled ahead, the Sabercats maintained their lead and delivered smooth serves and kills.
The Eagles called a timeout 8-2 and Fossil was just points away from the win. No matter what they did Pine Creek could just not come back and Fossil took the win 15-7, securing their spot in the Final Four round.
