New Palestine’s Lauren Wilson hits past Greenfield-Central’s Katie Muegge and Harper Holden during their match on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. On Tuesday, Wilson helped lead the Dragons to a come-from-behind win over Delta.
Tom Russo | Daily Reporter
By Brady Extin | Daily Reporter
NEW PALESTINE – New Palestine hadn’t faced much adversity this season until its last two matches.
Unlike Saturday’s Greenwood Invitational, a 2-0 loss in the championship match, the Dragons volleyball team faced the adversity head on.
After falling behind 2-0, the Dragons battled back and took the final three sets to defeat Delta 3-2 at New Palestine High School Tuesday.
“We haven’t really faced adversity, so I’m proud of them and the way they responded. I’ve been waiting for that,” New Palestine assistant coach Jamie Morris said.
Morris is handling more of the coaching duties with the absence of head coach Kelli Gabehart, who is on maternity leave.
“We kind of fall apart when it gets tough,” Morris added. “I just told them, ‘Are we going to give up when it gets tough?’ They didn’t. They completely responded.”
The Dragons struggled to find any rhythm throughout the first two sets.
They managed to hang around in the first set all the way to the end before a kill from Delta’s Kendra Keesling and subsequent double-hit by New Palestine gave the Eagles a 25-23 win.
In the second set, it was unforced errors by the Dragons that allowed the Eagles to lead from start to finish in a 25-21 win. Seven of the Delta points came on New Palestine mistiming jumps for blocks or mishandling opposing serves.
“They were killing us on the tips. We were out of sorts completely,” Morris said. “There was a lot of running into each other and unsureness in the first two sets.”
Led by Lauren Wilson and Reagan Kleiman, the Dragons looked like a completely new team in the third.
The Delta defense had no response for the duo. Early on it was all Wilson, recording four kills and an ace to give New Palestine its largest lead of the night, 13-7. From then on, it was Kleiman’s turn as she closed things out by recording three kills, two blocks and an ace the remainder of the set as the Dragons took it 25-15.
“Getting that third set under our belts just really helped us shoot into the next two,” Morris said.
Even still down 2-1, the momentum was entirely in New Palestine’s favor the rest of the way.
Set four was nearly the exact same as set three, with the Dragons winning it 25-15 again.
Kleiman picked up right where she left off, recording the first four points for the Dragons on three kills and an ace. She finished the set with a total of five kills and three aces. Wilson didn’t miss a beat either as she followed Kleiman with two blocks and three kills in the set.
“Lauren can get in her own head and she’s her own worst enemy a lot of the time,” Morris said. “If she’s able to get herself out of it, and get kills like she was tonight, that’s the player I need all of the time. She was fantastic.”
Setting up Kleiman and Wilson all night was senior setter Isabella Gizzi.
In the final set, the Dragons continued their dominance, leading from start to finish in a 15-8 win.
The difference for Morris down the stretch was the intensity she saw from her players.
“There was no energy over here in the first two sets,” Morris said. “We were looking at each other a lot to do our jobs for them. The third set we decided everybody should do their own job and pick up what was on the floor.”
The comeback win was new territory for the Dragons who are now 10-2 on the season and 2-0 in the Hoosier Heritage Conference.
“Tonight was the true test of when it gets hard, are you going to give up or are you going to keep going,” Morris said. “Tonight we definitely kept going.”
