Red Devils win home finale, make playoffs

Allen County Community College’s Red Devils did their job Wednesday night. They beat Coffeyville in a four-set match at home.
By the time they came off the court, the Red Devils knew they had made the NJCAA Region VI, Division II playoffs. That’s because Kansas City, Kan., Community College defeated Fort Scott Wednesday.
Allen County and Fort Scott were tied at 3-6 in division play going into the final night of action. The Red Devils moved to 4-6 in Jayhawk Eastern Division and region play and 18-21 overall. Fort Scott dropped to 3-7 in region play and 23-10 overall.
“To finish at home with a victory is  like being on top of the world,” said Nicole Reed, one of three playing sophomores for Allen County.
Reed, Alli Jenicke, Makhala Giardina and sophomore manager Karlee Bobbitt were honored before the match.
Allen County fought off Coffeyville in the first set and rolled in the second set. The Red Devils had a not-so-good third set and it was looking like the match would extend to the limit — a fifth set.
ACCC head coach Jessica Peters called a timeout as her team looked at a three-point deficit, 23-20. Coffeyville had the serve and needed two points to extend the best-of-five match to a fifth set.
But Peters didn’t talk to the players. She left it up to the players led by the sophomores.
“There was only one option. It was our decision,” Reed said after the match.
“We decided.”
“We were writing the record and we wrote like that,” Giardina said.
Allen County went to work on the court and got the serve back without giving up a point. The Red Devils never relinquished the serve again.
Freshman Hayley Mertens was serving and they needed four points to win. They got it started with a kill from Jenicke then it was 23-23. Freshman Jordyne Seichepine made a big block putting the Red Devils up one.
Mertens served and when the ball came back over the net from Coffeyville, the Red Devils set the ball. Jenicke delivered her 11th kill of the night. Set, match and playoffs.
“It was a roller coaster season and to finish the season with four straight wins is great,” Jenicke said.
“This is how you want to finish your final match at home,” Giardina said as all three sophomore players were giddy after the match.
The Red Devils beat the Red Ravens Wednesday 28-26, 25-20, 19-25, 25-23. They used three non-conference wins to pick up momentum coming into the final match of the season.
Now, they work as they wait. Allen County is the eighth seed in the NJCAA Region VI, Division II tournament. The eight teams are divided into two district tournaments, sending two teams into the NJCAA Division II national tournament.
The Region VI tournaments are Nov. 5. ACCC athletic director  Randy Weber said Allen County would be in the district tournament hosted by Cowley County Community College in Arkansas City.
“Momentum ran deep in this match. These sets were solely based on who could earn a run along with minimizing their own errors,” Peters said of Wednesday’s match.
“Coffeyville had a large amount of service errors, giving us every opportunity to hold and push back. The will was in the win on our side.
Allen County opened with a five-point service run by freshman setter Jacqui Ortiz. The Red Devils were sailing along then stumbled a bit as the Red Ravens  caught up.
Coffeyville was up 22-21 with the serve and Mertens came up with a big kill. Jenicke served an ace plus one more to put Allen County up 24-22 but Coffeyville fought back.
Coffeyville got a 25-24 advantage and Giardina and a kill. Giardina, who had 10 kills on the night, came up with her only solo block to make it 26-26.
Reed served up the winning two points with the set point coming on a tip at the net by freshman Randi Billings.
Billings had a three-point run with Jenicke working the net to put the Red Devils up 10-8 in the second set. With the score tied at 13-all, Reed served up four straight points.
Allen County had a 24-18 lead but Coffeyville served two points. Giardina got the winning point on a defensive kill.
After the break, the Red Devils looked in charge early in set three leading 5-3 and was up 9-6. The Ravens rolled up four consecutive points before Peters called a timeout.
Mertens, who put down 10 kills in the match, had a kill to make it 10-10. The set became a point-for-point battle until 17-17.
Coffeyville got the ball and pushed ahead to 22-18. The Ravens were able to hold the Red Devils to just one more point to win 25-19.
The fourth set was much like the third but Coffeyville had the advantage up 19-12. Then came the stand by the Devils late and the win for ACCC.
Reed served up 12 points and had one ace service. Ortiz had 10 service points with two aces and Billings served eight points. Jenicke served six points and had one ace.
Mertens served for four points. Alisha Keith had three service points and Sabrina Stanley had two service points.
Seichepine helped the net attack with seven kills, one solo block and three assisted blocks. Billings had five kills, one solo block and two assisted blocks.
Mertens had two solo blocks and one assisted block and Jenicke had a solo block and one assisted block. Ortiz and freshman Kaitlyn Speer each had a kill. Speer also had two assisted blocks.
Ortiz put up 20 set assists and Keith had 17 assists. Reed led the Devils with 21 defensive digs. Jenicke had 13 digs and Ortiz had 12 digs.