Martin announces resignation after loss

    Niles’ Ashley Love drives a ball through the block of Portage Central’as Melissa Lundin during Monday’s Class A District Tournament match. The Mustangs defeated the Vikings 3-1 to eliminate them from the state tournament. (Daily Star Photo/SCOTT NOVAK)

    Prior to the start of the Class A District Volleyball Tournament game between Niles and visiting Portage Central, veteran head coach Linda Martin was thanked for her years of service.

    After the Mustangs had eliminated the Vikings in a spirited district opener 3-1, Martin confirmed that unofficially she has resigned as the team’s coach.

    Although she turned in her resignation to new Niles Athletic Director Jeff Upton, she said it will be coming one way or another.

    “I have not submitted a letter of resignation yet, but if I don’t my husband will,” Martin said.

    Early on it appeared that Portage Central was going to oust the Vikings in a sweep.

    The Mustangs dominated the first two sets, winning 25-18 and 25-15. In both sets, the play of middle hitter Sarah Heckman and outside hitter Elle Humphries was the difference.

    The third set didn’t hold much hope for Niles at the beginning as Portage Central roared out to a 7-2 lead forcing Martin to call a time out.

    Slowly but surely, the Vikings kept working their way back into the third set. The Mustangs were having trouble handling the ball and getting the sets up to their standout hitters.

    Miranda Baker collects one of her 10 kills for Niles Monday night in the Class A District Volleyball match against Portage Central. (Daily Star Photo/SCOTT NOVAK)

    Meanwhile, Love and Baker continued to pound away at Portage Central and eventually the Vikings caught the Mustangs at 22-22.

    Two quick points off an Portage Central attack error and a big block by Love and Lashonda Green and the Vikings were looking at set point.

    Love finished off the Mustangs with a kill and suddenly Niles was back in the match and had all the momentum heading into the fourth game.

    Abby McKeel started off what turned out to be the final set with an ace and Niles grapped a 2-0 lead. After Heckman dripped a short set to the floor to give Portage Central its first point of the set, Love tipped the ball for a kill and a Niles 3-1 advantage.

    Back-to-back errors by the Vikings allowed Portage Central to tie the set at 4-4 and when Jenna VanZoeren picked up a kill the Mustangs had the lead at 5-4. VanZoeren’s second straight kill extended the lead to two points and then kills by Humphries and Erika Nord made it an 8-4 contest.

    Niles would continue to put the pressure on Portage Central, which used its short seat to pick up points and keep the Vikings at bay.

    Eventually, Niles was able to take advantage of three consecutive errors by the Mustangs, a kill by Michelle Briand and another Portage Central error to tie the set at 18-18.

    A kill by Heckman, along with an ace and two kills plus a block from Humphries gave the Mustangs match point.

    When Nord served up an ace, Portage Central had the victory and advanced to Wednesday’s semifinal match.

    “That was volleyball played the way it was meant to be played,” Martin said of the third and fourth sets. “It just was. That was some team ball. That was some togetherness against a very, very tough opponent. We have great athletes, but I think the whole thing about tonight was they way everybody pulled it together as a team in games three and four.”

    Portage Central (39-18) coach Dawn Jaqua wasn’t surprised that Niles was able to come back on her team. She said that it has had trouble closing out opponents this season.

    “We checked out. We were done,” Jaqua said. “We thought we had won it. It’s been a struggle of ours all year. Niles played hard. They didn’t want their season to be over.”

    Heckman finished with 15 kills and Humphries 14 for the Mustangs. Nord completed the match with 16 digs and 50 assists.

    Niles (25-15-3) got 14 kills and 12 digs from Love, while Baker finished with 10 kills. Cortney Shirrell had 25 assist to go along with eight digs. Brea Haines led the team in digs with 17.

    Portage Central d. Niles 3-1

    Niles statistics

    Kills

    Ashley Love 14

    Miranda Baker 10

    Lashonda Greene 4

    Michelle Briand 3

    Digs

    Brea Haines 17

    Ashley Love 12

    Cortney Shirrell 8

    Maggie Hoff 5

    Taylor Brandstatter 4

    Lashonda Greene 4

    Aces

    Abby McKeel 2

    Assists

    Shirrell 25

    Blocks

    Miranda Baker 3

    Ashley Love 2

    Lashonda Greene 1

    Cortney Shirrell 1

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