LINDEN — A North Montgomery lineup change withsood an Attica comeback in a 3-2 (25-14, 25-14, 21-25, 24-26, 15-8) Charger volleyball win on Tuesday night.
After taking the first two sets handily, North Montgomery lost a 20-13 third set lead with a 12-1 run by the Ramblers, including an 8-0 stretch.
Foreseeing the absence of a pair of players next week, North Montgomery coach Whitney Hutson made a lineup change in the middle of the match.
“We tried some new lineups,” she said. “We have some changes we have to make unfortunately, with two girls not going to be there next week. We just put together a new lineup today without any practice.”
And it paid off.
“I thought we did well with the change,” Hutson said. “I thought we could have done better, but I think they handled it well.”
Attica didn’t go away though. After 12 lead changes, and down to the match point with North Montgomery leading 24-23 in the fourth set — Attica rattled off three-straight to force a decisive fifth set.
“Definitely trying to keep their energy up and not getting down on themselves is always hard,” Hutson said about the Attica comeback. “Just have to find some leaders who will pick them up.”
In the end, the Chargers came through — stringing together a 10-4 run to start the final set, before holding on for a 15-8 win.
Senior Ashlynn Anderson was at the center of the North Montgomery attack with 19 kills. She added 12 digs.
“Ashlynn had a good game with a lot of kills,” Hutson said.
Madi Welch added 28 assists, three aces, and three solo blocks. Carlie DeSmet had five kills and five solo blocks, while Annabel Anderson had five kills. Riley Gayler added 13 digs and Piper Ramey six digs.
After sweeping North Vermillion on Monday night — North Montgomery is now 4-10 on the season and will travel to Western Boone on Thursday.
