Top-seeded Talawanda got to the Division II sectional volleyball championship game but fell in three sets last Saturday to perennial qualifier Alter, which came in as the second seed.

As the top seed, Talawanda got a first-round bye and then defeated Oakwood in five sets last Oct. 18 before running into Alter on Saturday. Talawanda lost in three games—25-17, 25-18 and 25-19—to Alter, a team used to winning and used to doing well in the postseason tournament. It was the Knights’ 12th consecutive sectional championship.

“It’s just one of those deals. It was not a big surprise,” Talawanda first-year coach Ernie Gilbert said. “Alter’s been there before. They played like they expect to win. We played as we hoped to win.”

Talawanda ends its season 22-2 overall and were champions of the Southwest Ohio Conference with a 14-0 league record.

Talawanda won its first match in the tournament last Thursday in five games, losing the first two by close scores and then taking three straight at Oakwood—27-29, 24-26, 25-23, 25-15 and 15-9.

“We were kind of wide-eyed, playing in the tournament and the other team played inspired volleyball,” Gilbert said of that opening win. “I was impressed that the girls fought back and won in five after losing the first two. I told them sometimes in a long season you have a match when you win on luck. This was not one of those times. They deserved this after winning the last three games convincingly.”

He said they could not sustain that into Saturday, largely due to Alter’s experience and expectation of winning.

“We talked about that (comeback) on Saturday. We had lost two before and came back,” Gilbert said. “This time, the opponent had as much drive to win as we did. It was a bigger hill, a deeper hole, than we had all year. It’s supposed to be that way at tournament time.”

The coach said they had to work not only against the playoff experience Alter brought to the match, but a strong showing on that day, as well.

“I was told by several people that was the best match Alter had played all year,” Gilbert said. “I told the girls if we played Alter five times, we would win three.”

The match was a milestone win for Alter coach Tina Jasinowski, who recorded her 300th career win.

Gilbert said it was a compliment that the district coaches had voted Talawanda the number 1 seed and a first-round bye and he was proud of his team for getting into that situation.

“The coaches decided we had good enough of a season to get the number 1 seed and handed us a chance to get to the sectional final with the bye. I was happy with that,” he said. “The girls earned that respect, that accolade.”

Sunday afternoon, Gilbert was headed to a district coaches meeting to choose all-district players and he said he intended to make a pitch for senior Rachel Vidourek to be named to the first team and even Player of the Year, saying she was deserving of the honor.

“Rachel had another great match (against Alter),” he said.

It was the second straight outstanding season for Talawanda volleyball, with the teams collecting 22 wins both years.

“It was a wonderful season. I was new and we changed everything and they bought into it. As a coach, I could not ask for more. We were one game better than last year (22-2 over last year’s 22-3 record). That’s a small thing,” he said. “I could not have been happier with the way the girls played, the way they tried.”