Adam Knoll
Sports Correspondent
The Whitewater girls volleyball team charged into Big Foot Oct. 25 with momentum on its side in the WIAA regional final. Not only had the Whippets taken out the No. 2 seed in an earlier round, the girls had taken Big Foot to task in a tournament earlier in the year.
Indeed, if there was a time to make a statement, it was that night.
All seemed right in the world early on as the Whippets used their formidable size up front to make key blocks and rip winners down the line, taking the first set 25-16.
Big Foot, the No. 3 seed, quickly rallied, and pushed the second set into extra play, finally defeating the Whippets 26-24 to even the match.
It is here that earlier in the year, the Whippets may have folded and allowed the next set to go past without much of a fuss, yet the girls dug deep and pulled out a thrilling 26-25 third-set victory.
Whitewater may have used up too much juice though in winning the third set, as the fire just wasn’t there in the fourth. Big Foot kept the Whippets off guard and strung together a few sets of winners to take the fourth set 25-15.
The Whippets, again, mustered their strength in the fifth and final set, taking a 9-7 lead into the final segment of the match. After a Big Foot timeout, the Whippets lost the next four points and the Chiefs led 11-9. The two teams would then attack and counter their way to a 15-13 finish, in favor of Big Foot.
“When it came down to it, our serve receive let down and our hitters became tentative and began tipping,” said Whitewater coach Kathy Bullis. “Big Foot was able to pick up defensively. I believe if we would have continued being aggressive and hitting like we did all night there would have been a different outcome.”
Nevertheless, the Whippets were the darlings of this tournament. After starting the season off strong, a long drought hit the team and there seemed to be times when the team simply could not get energized for matches. But, Whitewater seemed to rise to the occasion during tournaments and in the playoffs, tipping off that the team had a ‘back against the wall’ type of mentality.
“I am extremely pleased with the way the girls played. They ended their season playing the best ball of the year.” Bullis said. “I am really looking forward to next season with the return of a strong front row with Myriama Smith-Trajore, and Nicole Frison. They gained much-needed confidence over the course of the year and will be a force to be reckoned with next year. Also, we have Keely Fielder and Kelsey Herold returning on the defensive side.”
Indeed, the Whippets seem to have a good core of players returning, and with that comes the hope that the team can hit the ground running, and perhaps even find an edge they were lacking this year.
Bullis finished off the season by thanking her graduating players.
“We will definitively miss Sarah Schumacher, Kailey Reynolds, Carmen Wyatt, Katy Carlson, Faith Steinert, Emilie Kachel, Lexi Nelson, Savannah Pop and Lauren Lohff as they provided a solid base of leadership both on the court and off the court.”
