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  • Providence celebrates after scoring a point against Silver Creek during Wednesday's match at Providence. Providence won the match in straight sets. Staff photo by Christopher Fryer

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  • Providence High School sophomore Haley Libs drives the ball past Silver Creek High School during their match on Wednesday evening at Providence. Providence won the match in the first three sets. Staff photo by Christopher Fryer

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  • Silver Creek High School's Kaitlyn Ramser, left, and Kendra Kirchgessner attempt to block a shot during their match against Providence High School at Providence on Wednesday evening. Providence won the match in the first three sets. Staff photo by Christopher Fryer

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  • Silver Creek High School senior Sammi Smith drives the ball past Providence High School sophomore Patricia Mattingly during their match at Providence on Wednesday evening. Providence won the match in the first three sets. Staff photo by Christopher Fryer

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  • Providence High School sophomore Maddie Bivens attempts to block a shot by Providence High School junior Morgan Reining during their match at Providence on Wednesday evening. Providence won the match in the first three sets. Staff photo by Christopher Fryer

    08_16_volley_05w.jpg

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August 16, 2012

H.S. VOLLEYBALL: Providence sweeps Silver Creek in matchup of ranked teams

By JON REITER sports@newsandtribune.com

CLARKSVILLE — In the season opener for both squads, the Providence girls’ volleyball team bested visiting Silver Creek 25-21, 25-21, 25-22 in a battle of ranked opponents.

“When this team figures out that they can be good, they’ll be scary,” Providence coach Terri Purchia said of her squad, which starts four sophomores and a freshman. “Mentally, they don’t always play at the level they need to, but again, they’re youthful. They have to develop into a mentally tough team, but we don’t always see it enough.”

The Class 2A, No. 3 Pioneers faced a Silver Creek team that was without Wright State recruit Hayley Garr, a returning all-state player at outside hitter that was out of the match nursing an unspecified injury. Without Garr it “was a different match,” Purchia acknowledged — albeit still close.

The Class 3A, No. 10 Dragons led in all three sets, but knotted the first one at 19 following a kill from outside hitter Morgan Reining. However, a Silver Creek net violation gave Providence the 20-19 lead, and an ace from Audrey Shannon and kill from freshman hitter Jacquie Hornung widened the margin to 22-19 Pioneers. Following a Silver Creek service error, Providence captured the first set 25-21.

Hornung opened the second set with a kill off a feed at the middle net from Providence setter Patricia Mattingly, who led all players with 33 assists. The two squad swapped leads, but Silver Creek edged ahead 11-7 after a kill from Madi Niemann, and again at 17-13 when Reining sent a kill off a pass from Kaitlyn Ramser (26 assists) to the Larkin Arena floor.

But a combination of service errors from Silver Creek and strong net play brought the Pioneers back, and a kill from Haley Libs closed out the second set 25-21.

Libs — a sophomore — and Hornung, who is a freshman, led the Providence attack with 11 kills apiece, and sophomore Taylor Wilson added 9. The strong service of the Pioneers kept Silver Creek off-balance by sending their defense chasing balls long and towards the net, something Purchia said her squad has been working on.

Crucial service aces from Shannon, Kylie Flanagan and Mattingly gave Providence the lead during a tightly-contested third set the Pioneers managed to win to close out the match, 25-22.

“We’ve spent the offseason experimenting with different types of serves,” she said. “It’s going to be frustrating to watch at the beginning of the season, because they weren’t always falling where we wanted them to, but that’s something we’ll improve on over the course of the season.”

In Garr’s absence, middle hitter Danni Densford swung the big stick for Silver Creek, collecting 12 kills. Sammi Smith added nine and Kendra Kirchgessner added six kills and blocked five Pioneers kill attempts.

Providence hosts North Harrison tonight at the Larkin Center. The Dragons are off until Monday, when they travel to face Trinity Lutheran.

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