Fostoria outlasts Black Knights in 5 sets

VAN BUREN – Fostoria went into the deep end.The Lady Red had not played a five-set match under current coach Destiny Long-Meyer.That changed Thursday against Van Buren, but Fostoria remained calm, cool and collected.The Lady Red missed out on two match points, but cashed in on the third on a thunderous kill by Adori Bishop, topping the Black Knights 25-13, 21-25, 25-19, 13-25, 18-16 in non-league action.It is the first five-set win for Fostoria since a marathon win over Genoa on Sept. 19, 2019. The Lady Red's last five-set match was a loss to Elmwood on Sept. 28, 2021."We had to keep pushing and keep our head up," Long-Meyer said. "We don't want attitude and needed to keep cheering each other on no matter what. Whether we get a point or they get a point, we have to stay on top of what we're doing."Fostoria (1-1) led most of the fifth set, but Van Buren took a 12-11 lead later. The Lady Red jumped back ahead 14-13, but a serving error tied the set. The Black Knights even had a match point after a huge block by freshman Brooklyn Wilkin, but Ceegan Talley evened the set at 15 with a kill.Fostoria then went ahead 16-15 after Addisyn Talley's kill, but Van Buren again fended it off when Wilkin smacked a kill. After an injury stopped play momentarily, Addisyn Talley and Bishop smacked kills to finish off the huge win for the Lady Red."Adori was the No. 1 blocker in the entire league last year," said Long-Meyer of the junior. "Our whole goal is to keep her on top of the blocking and being strong at the net."The injury was to Van Buren libero Ava Cramer, who led the Black Knights with 21 assists. In a match that featured 190 points, it is hard to say two points decided it, but it left Van Buren coach Mark Bunn in a tough spot."That's tough," said Bunn of the moment. "You have to put somebody in there that hasn't run those positions. We tried and it didn't work. That's what you always think about, but I had to tell the girls it was more about the first set and third set where we didn't capitalize when we had opportunities."It was all Fostoria in Set 1. In what became a trend early in the match, the Lady Red got off to a blazing start early, racing out to an 8-2 lead. Fostoria never let the Black Knights get their footing in the set, later using a 8-1 run to balloon the lead to 20-9 after an ace by Ceegan Talley.Van Buren committed three errors, Karma Williams registered a kill, and Chazlyn Titus served up an ace to give Fostoria the early lead."They were consistent. We were not consistent," Bunn said. "We tried to have the ESPN highlight reel kills and we're not that team. We have to be consistent and disciplined and we were not at a lot of times."The Lady Red came out on fire in Set 2 - just the like the opening set - before Van Buren finally seemed to settle in. This time it was a 7-2 lead after a Williams ace and Black Knights error, but Van Buren responded and went ahead 11-8 on Brylee Ponn's kill.The Black Knights extended the lead as big as 18-13 before Fostoria roared back. The Lady Red tied the set at 19 and again at 20, but Wilkin (three kills) and Ashlee Deitrick (two kills) took care of the final five points of the set for Van Buren to even the match at a set apiece."I called out my seniors," said Bunn of what changed after being down a set and 7-2. "We needed some leadership out there."Set 3 was pretty similar to Set 1 for Fostoria. Ceegan Talley tallied a kill to give the Lady Red an early 7-1 advantage. That again put the Black Knights behind the 8-ball. Van Buren did get within two points, but Addisyn Talley smacked a kill while Williams added a kill and a block.Fostoria extended the lead to 17-9, really keeping distance between itself and the Black Knights. With the comfortable lead, the Lady Red continued to pound away as Ceegan Talley went back-to-back on kills to bring up set point. A hitting error by Van Buren pushed Fostoria ahead."I keep preaching to the girls to be aggressive and to keep setting," Long-Meyer said. "We want our setter to keep squaring up and we want to keep working."The Black Knights really took the reins in Set 4. After a 5-all tie early in the set, Van Buren won points in bunches to pull away. A 10-2 run that was capped on consecutive aces by Deitrick gave the Black Knights a 15-7 lead.Fostoria didn't commit many errors, mostly because Van Buren kept smacking away. A kill by Megan Stall made it 18-9 and later, Deitrick registered a block and two kills on back-to-back-to-back plays. A kill by Ponn tied the match at two sets apiece."If we start out serving, we're great," Bunn said. "That's what happened in the two sets we won. We have a couple injuries, but we have girls that are capable. We just didn't execute."Deitrick led Van Buren with 22 kills while Wilkin added 11 kills. Brooke Ingwerson finished with 40 assists and 13 digs, Ponn lined eight kills, Stall had 13 digs and five kills, and Abbie Bowen tallied 14 digs for the Black Knights.It was Ceegan Talley (five aces) and Addisyn Talley's 13 kills apiece that paced Fostoria offensively. Williams added 10 kills, six digs, and three aces, Bishop contributed seven blocks and six kills, and Marisol Bernal had 33 assists and three kills.Fostoria tallied just two wins last season. Getting a big one on the road like this could be a sign of good things to come for the Lady Red."Our mentality from last year to this year has improved so much," Long-Meyer said. "They're completely different girls from last year to this year and it really shows."