Equal parts controversy and confusion were critical Wednesday in Allen Community College’s four-set loss on the volleyball court to visiting Coffeyville Community College.
The Red Devils lost two potential points late in the fourth set, in which apparent game winners were ruled otherwise by officials, in a 22-25, 15-14, 25-19, 26-24 defeat.
The first “lost” point came with Allen on top 23-22 in the fourth set. Freshmen Sidney Keith delivered what she thought was the game-winner when she tipped the ball over the outstretched arms of a pair of Red Raven defenders.
The ball bounced off the floor, but a Coffeyville player dove and made the play appear close enough that neither official blew his whistle until about a few seconds later, after the ball had been returned to the Allen side and then back to Coffeyville’s.
The Red Devils were not awarded the point.
Then with the score knotted at 24-24, a Hayley Mertens spike appeared to deflect off the fingertips of another Coffeyville defender, but that potential winner was called out of bounds.
Coffeyville sealed the win on the next point with a kill by Kelsey Broadwell.
“Yes, games can be won or lost because of officiating, and those two calls caused a huge shift in the fourth set, but I told the girls (officiating) was not why we lost tonight,” Red Devil head coach Jessica Peters said.
Instead, Peters directed most of her ire toward Allen’s inability to prevent extended Coffeyville runs through the contest.
And while Peters said the Red Devils have improved substantially since the start of the season on its service receive game, “tonight was a big step back.
“We clearly gave them a set solely based on blocking and serve receive errors,” Peters said.
Mertens was at times “unstoppable” for Allen, Peters said, pointing to her 22 kills and an ace, with much of her play leading to the first-set win.
“If we could have had even one more offensive option … we would have seen a whole different match,” Peters said.
Adriee Munoz and Jacqui Ortiz each delivered 19 assists, while Tayler Shook had 18 digs on defense.
The Red Devils head to Springfield, Ill., Saturday for the Land of Lincoln Tournament.
“It will be some good competition, but matches like tonights — conference matches — are the ones that will dictate our season,” Peters said.
Allen 25-14-19-24
Coffeyvile 22-25-25-26
Individual statistics: Shook 18 digs; Goodman, 5 kills, 3 set assists, 1 dig, 1 block assist, 5.5 points; Morgison 8 kills, 3 digs, 2 block assists, 9 points; Keith, 7 kills, 10 digs, 1 solo block, 3 block assists, 9.5 points; Munoz, 19 set assists, 9 digs; Charbonneau, 1 ace, 10 digs, 1 point; Ortiz, 1 kill, 19 set assists, 12 digs, 1 point; Mertens 22 kills, 1 ace, 11 digs, 1 block assist, 23.5 points; Billings 4 kills, 1 set assist, 3 digs, 1 block assist, 4.5 points; Douglas 1 kill, 2 set assists, 1 dig, 1 block assist, 1.5 points.
ACC volleyball drops match to Red Ravens
