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Dragons fall in home opener to GM

Warren junior outside hitter Hannah Shattuck takes a swing during the first set of Thursday’s match against General McLane. It was the home opener for the Dragons, who fell, 3-1.

Warren volleyball showed the resolve of a champion in Thursday’s home opener against General McLane.

Despite a valiant comeback attempt, however, it was the visiting Lancers that earned a 3-1 (25-22, 25-21, 18-25, 29-27) victory.

“That was a playoff-like atmosphere,” said Warren coach Mike Dolan. “We keep talking about the path to getting better every game, and I think we are. And games like this, it’s going to be big, especially for the younger girls.”

The crowd, led by the Flannel Panel, filled the gym and was loud right from the opening serve.

Unfortunately, not a lot went right for the Lady Dragons (1-3) in the first set, as McLane jumped out to a 7-3. Warren took a brief 10-9 lead on back-to-back kills by Grace Wortman and Halee Mineweaser, but it was short-lived, as the Lancers rattled off took it right back and never let go.

Warren senior Lex Nyquist sets during the third set against General McLane on Thursday.

“We didn’t execute well in the beginning,” Dolan said.

The second set got off to a much better start, as Warren jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Again, however, it was short-lived, as McLane rattled off the next seven points and never trailed again in the set, despite strong play from Jordan Sitler and Olivia English.

Trailing 2-0, the Lady Dragons fought back in a big way.

Tied at 13-all, Mineweaser and Sitler had back-to-back kills that keyed a 7-1 run to help Warren assume control. Wortman also had a kill to make it 22-18 and Mineweaser closed it out.

That gave the Lady Dragons some momentum, but McLane showed strong resolve as well, jumping out to an early 6-1 lead in the fourth set.

Not much went right for Warren, as they looked like they were done for, trailing 20-13.

This team, however, wasn’t done by a long shot.

Mineweaser, Wortman and Hannah Shattuck all had kills during a 7-0 run that tied it up at 20-20, thanks in part as well to the play of all-state setter Lex Nyquist.

Neither team could get the upper hand, as Sitler had three of her team-high 14 kills late in the fourth. Ultimately, however, McLane went up 28-27 and was able to close it out.

“It looked like Meredith (Morrison) had an ace for it and we had a couple swings for it,” Dolan said. “The way they were able to fight back … we made a lot of mistakes early and we turned it around.”

Dolan also praised the leadership of his two seniors, Wortman and Nyquist.

“Grace and Lex,

they have nothing but encouragement for everybody,” he said. “I couldn’t ask for better leaders for these young girls.”

Statistical leaders for Warren were Nyquist (34 assists, 20 digs, 2 blocks), Sitler (14 kills, 1 block), Wortman (11 kills), Mineweaser (11 kills), English (5 kills), Katie Madigan (28 digs) and Shattuck (3 kills).

“Katie played really well,” Dolan said. “She made great digs and had solid passes. She and Lex work very well together. Halee had some nice swings, too.”

Leading GM were Kayla Seidel (13 digs, 9 kills), Makayla Jay (30 assists) and Lilli Mook (10 kills, 6 digs).

The Warren JV team won 2-1, 25-18, 22-25, 15-9.

Morrison (9 digs), Lexi Hoffman (3 kills), Cara Munksgard (6 kills), Ellee Irwin (2 blocks) and Lauren Dolan (15 assists) led Warren, which returns to action Saturday at Corry.

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