By: Joe Blystone:
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
publisher@thevillagereporter.com
PETTISVILLE (October 8, 2024) – If someone hasn’t given Pettisville’s Grace Hastings the moniker of the “Mail Carrier”, they should!
On a night when Pettisville’s junior setter delivered a perfect pass for her 1,000th career assist, Hastings helped April Beck’s Blackbirds score a three-set sweep of Delta, 25-15, 25-20, and 25-14.
The Blackbirds seemed a little too jacked up before a large crowd on which was senior night, along with the anticipation of Hastings’ impending milestone, as the Panthers got two Mariah McGary kills and an ace from Ellie Martinez to grab a 5-2 lead.
And then it happened. Hastings put up a special delivery pass and Naomi Richer blasted it into the wood from the left side for Hastings’ assist #1,000.
“She is an amazing setter,” Beck said applauding Hastings. “She runs the offense and looks for which hitters are ready to go and which she can expect a kill from. She mixes things up at the net, she quickens the offense for us and hustles everywhere. She’s just amazing.”
“That’s the plan,” Beck explained of her team’s fast pace. “We hope to get the blockers on the other side in a place where they aren’t ready. Quicken the offense, that’s our goal.”
The charged-up crowd fueled the Blackbirds as Miley Harris pounded two shots and Richer scored an ace to give Pettisville a 7-5 lead.
Claire Bates scored off a block to tie the set at 7-7 but the Blackbirds took off from there with Harris leading the flock.
It was Harris from the back row, and Harris from the left side to make it 12-8. Then it was Richer five times, the last an emphatic slam from the left, followed by Olivia Miller’s putback to give the Blackbirds a comfortable 21-13 lead where Hastings finished the first set win with a bump kill.
Miller’s ace and Richer’s pair of kills boosted the Birds ahead 8-1 in the second, but the Panthers didn’t roll over. McGary’s five kills, the last a stuff block at the net brought Delta to within 14-13.
Richer went 3/3 in attempts, including a swooping curl from the left side to push the lead to 19-14, and Macy Hoylman and Harris helped finish off the second with a trio of kills.
In the third, a Hastings’ kill from the left, Miller’s ace and another by Noelle Fox got Pettisville rolling, and Beck’s Blackbird Board Blasters took over.
Harris nailed five more kills, Richer stuck a pair and Courtney Wiemken got another as Pettisville flew to a three-set sweep.
“Miley and Naomi just really put the ball down tonight,” said Beck of her big hitters. “They mean business when they go up and hit.”
“Olivia Miller puts it down and you know Courtney Wiemken had some good kills from the middle. I mean all of our hitters were just ready to go.”
Pettisville finishes the season playing Holgate and North Central before tournament play begins next week. Delta ends the regular season with Archbold.
Pettisville d. Delta, 25-16, 25-19, 25-14
PETTISVILLE (17-3): Naomi Richer – 23/25 hitting, 13 kills, 12 digs; Miley Harris – 29/33 hitting, 12 kills; Grace Hastings – 21/22 serving, 2 aces, 11 digs, 38 assists
DELTA (1-20): no statistics
JUNIOR VARSITY: Pettisville, 25-22, 25-17
FRESHMAN: Pettisville, 18-25, 25-14, 25-20