By Adam Knoll
The Whitewater High School girls volleyball team entered the season with high aspirations as they went into the first conference match against McFarland on Sept. 9. But a loss of focus caused them to drop the match, 3-1, and sent the team looking for ways to turn things around.
In the first two sets, the Whippets had moments of brilliance, yet they were outpaced 25-17 and 25-16. The momentum Whitewater had built would soon slip away as McFarland gained the advantage.
In the third game the Whippets started to display the athleticism they have by aggressively hitting the ball and blocking McFarland at the net. In winning 27-25, the Whippets gave themselves an opportunity to extend the match, yet the effort spent staying in the third set showed up in the fourth as the lady Whippets fell 25-17 to end the game.
“Building confidence and developing mental toughness will be our focus the next couple days at practice,” head coach Kathy Bullis said. “Losing is never a fun thing, but I am pleased with the way the girls played. We noticed a few rotation line-ups that need to be tweaked, but on the flip side we saw some very positive play which needs to be taken up another notch.”
“We have a wonderfully athletic team which has the ability to improve every time they step on the court. Coach Kilar and I are looking forward to watching this groups confidence grow which will equate into seeing more success,” Bullis said.
More points scored
Though the good times did not come in the next contest, as the Whippets fell to Edgerton in four sets – 18-25,21-25,25-22,19-25 – Whitewater did put more points on the board.
Again, Whitewater played well for stretches, mostly into mounting comebacks but then seemed to lose energy at inopportune times, though Bullis is confident they’ll find their groove.
“I firmly believe the more the girls become comfortable playing with each other and finding a rhythm they will be able to string together more points and start turning the momentum in their favor,” Bullis said afterwards.
Nice finish at tourney
Hoping for a better result in their next outing, the Lady Whippets entered a tournament at Brodhead and did well, finishing fourth out of the 12 teams competing. Their coach said the pieces are coming together.
“I feel this was a huge confidence boost for the girls. They started off full of confidence passing, blocking and hitting well,” Bullis said.
In defeating Evansville in two sets (24-14 and 25-14), the girls went on to play Monticello, and played a slower, more technical game. Not playing the pace they prefer was a challenge and the Whippets lost in straight sets (25-17, 25-23.)
Next up, Whitewater took on Juda and defeated them 2-1 (20-25, 25-17 and 15-6), which earned them an entrance into the tournament’s gold bracket.
Once there, the Whippets fell to Brodhead in three sets and in the third place game, they fell in straight sets to Lake Mills, finishing with a hard-earned fourth-place.
