Stellar serving, ambitious attacking powers Galion past Huron in district semifinal

ATTICA - There's one thing Galion coach Katie Davis stressed to her team ahead of the Division V district semifinal against state-ranked Huron.

"Keep your composure," she said. "Try to stay calm, try to make sure that we still control what we can control … and I think we did it."

As expected, these district regulars battled out a five-set thriller won by Galion (25-16, 24-26, 27-25, 20-25, 15-11) largely in part due to the Tigers maintaining their composure throughout the match.

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"We had a couple plays where we were a little bit too hectic, but coming back and being able to just regroup for the next set and making sure our mindset is correct was awesome," Davis said.

With the match knotted at two sets apiece, Galion leaned on seniors Jillian Capretta and Madelyn Schieber to do something that set the Tigers apart. And it worked as they stretched a 3-2 lead through five points to 10-4, and then 14-9 before closing out.

"Madelyn and Jillian have had an amazing senior season," Davis said. "They've really helped us take it to the next level and trying to make sure we're staying in the games. If anything goes crazy, they're like — hey just give me the ball and I'll take care of it. Having that mentality is huge, and the more they keep stepping into that role, it's just going to be beneficial."

Serving was key in the fifth set, as it was all night for Galion. Huron's girls were regularly kept out of system due to aggressive serving from their opponent.

"That's been a common theme this season," Davis said. "Any game we've been in and we've been competitive, we've served well. Any game we lost, we have not served well. Moving into tournament time, that was our number one goal — make sure that it's over the net."

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And now Galion's focus shifts to Thursday's district championship against top-seeded Willard which beat Edison in four sets earlier in the night. It will be a rematch of an early season meeting that ultimately went in favor of the Flashes .

Only this time, silverware and a spot in regionals will be on the line.

"We went five at home, so we're expecting another brutal match just like tonight," Davis said.

zholden@gannett.com | 419-617-6018 | Twitter/X: @Zachary_Holden

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Stellar serving, ambitious attacking powers Galion past Huron in district semifinal