Elida wins district opener

FLOYD — The Floyd Broncos woke up a group of sleeping tigers on Thursday night — specifically, the Elida Tigers. The two teams clashed in their District 4-1A volleyball opener, with the Tigers overcoming a slow start to win in three sets, 26-24, 25-16, 25-19.

“I didn’t say a whole lot to them,” Elida coach Darrell Chenault said. “I just told them we got to weather the storm. We weren’t playing very good, we were hitting balls out of the bounds, and (Floyd) got the momentum — that’s the name of this game.

“I told them, ‘Just one point at a time. There’s no place that’s gonna make you eight-up, all of a sudden.’ We slowly got back in it, and then they got a little frustrated like we were, and made it tough. You come into somebody else’s house, you better be ready to play.”

Floyd (5-4, 0-1) stormed out to a 9-3 lead, which soon became 11-5. Mental errors by the Tigers (7-1, 1-0), coupled with aggressive attacking from the Broncos, made life tough on visiting Elida.

However, the Tigers soon went on a 14-5 run to pull ahead, 19-16. Floyd rallied back twice to tie it at 19-all and 22-all. However, Elida managed to seal the deal with a 26-24 set one victory.

From there, the Broncos came out flat in the second set, going down by double-digits on multiple occasions. As for the final set, it was tight for a while, before the Tigers did what they did all night long — finish strong.

“I’m disappointed — very disappointed. I’m disappointed in my girls and the way they played,” Floyd coach Dawn Kuchta explained. “We gave (Elida) too many opportunities, and they capitalized on it. They’re a good team, they’re gonna do that.

“But, I think it should have been a lot different outcome. I think it shoulda been at least a five-game battle. The first game was what it should have been like. The second game, we played too cautious — we didn’t swing at the ball. To win and be competitive, you have to hit the ball.”

Kuchta feels that her team is too inconsistent, as some players come out ready to play, while others don’t. Ultimately, she hopes to get everyone on the same page soon, as the Broncos have to “turn the corner sometime.”

For Elida, meanwhile, the name of the game going forward comes down to one simple thing.

“Passing — it’ll be until I die,” Chenault said, laughing. “The passing just feeds the wolves. You get those passes up there where that setter can do either side, it totally changes the game for you.”

Chenault’s Tigers will next travel to the Capitan Classic this weekend, while Kuchta’s Broncos face Gateway Christian is Roswell next Thursday.