​Eagles overcome 2-1 deficit to defeat Guardians in five sets

by Michael Smith, Grain Valley News


The Grain Valley boys volleyball team seemed to be going through a roller coaster ride.

After a dominant first set in which the Eagles won in Monday’s non-conference matchup with St. Michael The Archangel Catholic, the Eagles had a mistake-filled second and third set, which allowed the Guardians to take a 2-1 set lead.

The fourth set went back and forth, but the Eagles went on a late run to force a fifth and deciding set. From there, Eagles senior Maddox Dresslaer rattled off six consecutive service points to help Grain Valley take a 25-11, 18-25, 22-25, 25-20, 15-6 victory at St. Michael The Archangel Catholic High School.

A few of the Eagles were dinged up throughout the match. Dresslaer jammed one of his thumbs and junior Jordan Jackson had been battling a sore knee from the third set on, but the Eagles were able to battle through it all.

“I have had it forever, I had a basic jumper’s knee,” Jackson said. “I felt something pop going up. It felt strained when I was sprinting or jumping. I think it’s something I just have to ice it up and play through it.”

In the second and third game, Grain Valley had many self-inflicted errors and some miscommunication among the six players on the court resulted in some easy points for the Guardians.

“I think we earned six points in the second set total,” Grain Valley head coach Tori Squiers said. “We had about 10 errors to start each game back-to-back and got ourselves into a rut. It’s hard to come out of those mentally.

“When we started making errors, we started playing timid.”

Added Dresslaer: “We let our own issues and errors bother us.”

Those two games were proceeded by a first set that made it seem like the Eagles were headed for a dominant win. They jumped out to a 17-7 lead and from there, Jackson and Dresslaer combined for five kills to help their team win the set in convincing fashion.

After the Guardians took a 2-1 set lead, the Eagles seemed to come out with more energy as they began with a 5-0 spurt, which was highlighted by two kills from Dresslaer and an ace from sophomore Tyler Hoyt. However, the Guardians chipped away at the Eagles’ advantage and went on a 16-5 run that was powered by a kill and an ace from senior Donzell Reives and a kill and scoring block from junior David Rogge.

Grain Valley (14-6-1) wasn’t about to go away quietly, though. They got a pair of key blocks from sophomore Tristan Hoyt to help pull within 16-14 and they continued the momentum from there.

The score was tied at 18-18 after an error from Grain Valley. However, a kill from senior Ryan Rohr began a 7-2 run and Jackson chipped in with two of his own, including a dump that fooled the St. Michael defense and dropped to the floor to force a fifth set.

St. Michael began the fifth with a 2-0 lead, but after Dresslaer got a two-handed kill to get Grain Valley on the scoreboard, he rattled off six straight service points to put the Eagles up 8-2, capped by an ace. The Guardians wouldn’t get closer than six points from there as Grain Valley cruised the rest of the way.

“After the win in the fourth set, they came out ready to run our fast offense,” Squiers said. “We started communicating and playing as a team.”

While Dresslaer and Jackson scored some key points in the final two games, Tyler Hoyt was a big part of the comeback as he had three kills during that stretch.

​“Tyler is just an athlete, and he makes these crazy plays where you are not sure he’s going to get to it sometimes and he’s there,” Squiers said. “he’s looking to play an aggressive game, and he swings hard.”
Dresslaer led all players with 15 kills. 

Photo credit: David Rainey, Grain Valley News