FOSTORIA - In the strict sense of wins and losses, the night didn't go well for local coaches.
Calvert's Greg Hendrix co-coached a Gold East squad that won just one of the three games in its match, while Fostoria's Carver Williams helped guide a Red West team that dropped all three of its contests.
While a match victory would have been nice, both said the real enjoyment came from just taking part.
"When you go out there as a coach and you have talent just from every position, right from the top to the bottom, it's hard to even explain how fun this is, as a coach," Hendrix said after his team fell 25-22, 27-25, 20-25 to the Gold West.
"We go with these rivalries with these Mohawk girls and you get into this kind of environment and you just get to have fun with those girls after having so many wars with them," he said. "This is just a blast.
"It's been going on six years that I've been having wars with those Mohawk girls. Now I get to sit here and have (Lynsey) Trusty digging balls out of the back row for me," he said. "It's a lot funner being on the same side of the net as opposed to the opposite side."
His Gold East team rallied from an early 10-5 hole in the opener to knot things at 10, and then also forced ties at 19, 20 and 21, but the East just couldn't take a lead.
McComb's Brianna Herr fueled the West down the stretch, drilling kills four kills after the final tie on her way to eight for the evening.
The Gold West opened the second game on a 4-0 run, but momentum shifted back and forth from there as the teams traded leads.
An ace by Leipsic's Kendra Gerten put the West at gamepoint at 24-23, but Carey's Hannah Tong hammered a kills and the West committed a net violation to push the East in front 25-24.
Howver, Arcadia's Madison Stuby sandwiched a pair of kills around an ace from Van Buren's Sarah Benson to give the West another victory.
The East threatened to run away in the finale, roaring out to leads of 15-3 and 16-4, but the West rallied in spurts and sliced the deficit to four points four times (18-14, 19-15, 23-19, 24-20) before the East secured victory.
Tong smacked five of her match-high 13 kills in the finale for the East, and added four aces in the match.
Old Fort's Kristin Bender lined 11 kills, and Buckeye Central's Kendra Schultz belted six.
Van Buren's Elyse Anderberry gave the West seven kills and the Arlington duo of Jordyn Webb (6) and Adrienne Shepard (5) combined for 11.
The matchup among Division I, II and III schools, the Red West trailed most of the first game, though it did enjoy a brief 17-15 edge after two East miscues and an ace from Lakota's Stephanie Miller.
The East rallied, though, with Findlay's Emma Schleucher lining a kill for the East to break a deadlock at 18.
The West never tied or retook the lead from there, with the East holding on 25-23.
The West powered away after that game, taking the second 25-19 and the third 25-12.
But as with the first match, the night was more about the experience than the win, Williams said.
"It's kind of hard to do stuff; not hard, but it's not easy to do stuff when you have an opportunity to practice with the girls only one time. You didn't really have all the opportunity to see what they can do and stuff, but it was a blast," he said. "Any time you've got an opportunity to coach a group of all-stars and help the boosters out, it's always going to be fun.
"Really no pressure on them, just let them play," he said. "I try to make it as easy as I can for them and let them play."
Schleucher ended with six kills for the Red East and Columbian's Megan Murphy and Liberty-Benton's Liz Streacker both drilled four. Oak Harbor's Abbie Gezo and Willard's Elizabeth Bogner each served three aces.
Bluffton's Diana Basinger and Napoleon's Lindsey Shafer each gave the Red West five kills, with Bowling Green's Ashley Ludwig, Otsego's Sidney Rowe and Woodmore's Nicole Busdeker all smacking four.
