Comeback bid falls short for Eagles

Published 7:45 am Wednesday, October 11, 2023

EAGLE POINT — After dropping the first two sets, Eagle Point’s comeback fell short to Churchill in a 25-22, 29-27, 19-25, 17-25, 15-11 Midwestern League loss that had major playoff stakes.

The Eagles (12-7, 5-3 MWL) have now lost twice this year to the Lancers (7-6, 5-3), including a 3-0 setback in September.

A win on Tuesday could have helped Eagle Point get a slight leg up on Churchill toward one of the three automatic bids for the MWL in the Class 5A state playoffs. The Eagles and Lancers now stand tied for third place, one game behind Crater and only 1½ games ahead of Springfield with only four league matches remaining.

Eagle Point came out slow in the first two sets and let Churchill build quick leads. After a near wire-to-wire win in the first set by the Lancers, the Eagles had an opportunity to steal the second set until Churchill escaped behind a pivotal kill by Nyah Mitchell.

“When we look back on it, I think we’re going to see that we had lots of chances to win even in the first and second (sets),” said Eagle Point coach Jacob Schauffler about the slow start. “(The film) is going to be hard to watch.”

The Lancers started strong in the first set and always found an answer whenever the Eagles began to pick up steam.

“I think we were a little bit of a case of nerves,” said Schauffler. “I think there was also a little bit of just us tightening up.”

“We weren’t stepping correctly,” he added. “And then we were swinging for balls on serve and on receive, but then we corrected that.”

In the next two sets, Eagle Point got a lift from Thianna Deng-Gomez and Addison Holcomb. In the third set, Holcomb had three kills during an 8-1 run to help capture the set. The junior finished with 18 kills and 12 digs along with two aces.

“She was really efficient,” Schauffler said. “It’s nice having somebody if you’re in desperation mode that you can push it out there and she’s going to have a good chance to put it away.”

With Holcomb on the attack, Deng-Gomez patrolled the net to end with 11 kills and five blocks in one of her more prolific outings of the season.

“The best thing about Thianna and her performance is the fact that she’s only been playing volleyball for about a year,” said Schauffler. “Tonight is one of those nights where she was seeing things well as a new player that is playing at the varsity level with everything happening so fast.”

Predominantly a basketball player, Deng-Gomez started out on junior varsity last year in volleyball before becoming a swing player at the end. Over the summer, the junior played with the varsity group and saw massive improvements as teammate Makynlee Schauffler helped her adjust to the new sport.

“I think it’s amazing, honestly, just watching her progression throughout the year,” said the senior Schauffler, who finished with 41 assists and 13 digs. “Her and I have always been pretty close, so helping her through everything has always been nice.”

Deng-Gomez likened her relationship with Makynlee Schauffler to family, and has developed chemistry with the setter throughout the year.

“(Makynlee) is like an older sister and she has just got me through everything,” she said. “We have a really good connection and tonight was just one of those nights that we were connected on everything.”

After Eagle Point forced a fifth set, Churchill opened the decisive final set by building a 9-3 lead. Mitchell and Sadie Scott were thorns in the Eagles’ side throughout the match, and the two only got better in the final set.

The Churchill duo made timely digs and found windows for kills all night.

“They both were really efficient,” coach Schauffler said. “They didn’t hit a lot of balls out and they made us play defense, and anytime that you can hit balls in and you make a team play defense, you’re going to have a chance because you’re putting pressure on them.”

The Lancers eventually got to match point at 14-6 before a block by Deng-Gomez, Holcomb and Megan Carr reeled the score to 14-11 to seemingly change the tides. Carr registered five kills and four blocks overall.

With concern rising for the Lancers, Mitchell put the final nail in the coffin with a thunderous spike to end the match and stifle the Eagles’ comeback bid.