On The Cusp
Emporia High volleyball team wins 1st match of season, loses focus in other matches
By Michael Ashford
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
The Emporia High volleyball team succeeded in picking up its first win of the season Tuesday night, but it was the close losses that left the Spartans wanting more.
The Spartans won the second match of the Emporia Quad by defeating Mill Valley, 2-0, to earn their first victory of the year. But EHS fell in the first match to Seaman, 2-1, and in the third match to Santa Fe Trail, 2-0. In both losses, the Spartans came out of the gate with fire only to fade as the matches went on.
“There were times when we accepted defeat, and you can’t fake it after that because then, you just know how it’s going to end,” coach Kendra Bloomquist said. “We’ve got a ways to go, and we’re on the cusp of being a pretty good team. It’s just a point here and there and a mental mistake here and there that keeps us from that.”
Emporia High opened the quad with Seaman and immediately jumped on the Vikings by taking Game 1 of the match, 25-18.
Senior Jessica Muckenthaler paced the Spartans (1-5) through the first game with three kills, while senior Tiffany Chalupa and junior Ashley Lake served up two aces each.
In Game 2, EHS looked as if it would continue its good play, as the Spartans held a 6-4 lead early on. But Seaman went on a 7-0 run to jump out to an 11-6 lead, highlighted by a kill and two aces from Rachael Solis.
The Spartans fought back to within a point at 16-15 on a kill from Chalupa, but the Vikings’ Breanna Lewis, listed at 6-feet, 6 inches, helped Seaman close out the game on a 9-2 tear with three kills and a block assist, as Seaman took Game 2, 25-17.
“In the second game, they raised their level of intensity a little bit,” Bloomquist said, “and I don’t think we matched it. We matched it for a portion of that game, but towards the end, they took us out of system when they raised their level of intensity.”
The Vikings won the deciding Game 3, 25-17, behind four kills each from Lewis and Solis.
“We came out at first and played really hard, and we were playing scrappy,” Muckenthaler said. “That second game, we just didn’t have as much motivation, and we didn’t play as well. I’m not sure how it happened. One thing went wrong and it went from there.”
Emporia High responded to the loss with a 2-0 victory over Mill Valley in the second match of the night, as senior Summer Naab paced the Spartans with nine kills for the match.
“I got some good sets, and I took advantage of those,” Naab said. “Most of the time, I just tried to find a good hole to hit at and find a good spot to go for.”
The two teams battled back and forth at the start of Game 1 and eventually played to a tie at 16 until a kill from Naab sent the Spartans on a 9-0 run to close out the game, 25-16.
A 7-2 run gave Emporia High a 20-14 lead midway through Game 2, and the squad even had five attempts at match point when Naab’s ninth kill of the match made it 24-19 Spartans. But behind a block, two Spartan receiving errors and a Naab attacking error, the Jaguars cut the lead to 24-23 before Muckenthaler ended the game on a kill to give the Spartans the 25-23 victory and their first win of the season.
“We got comfortable, and we got into a rhythm,” Bloomquist said. “We needed that confidence. We were passing well, defending well, and things were kind of falling into place. We went with what worked.”
Emporia High used the momentum of their first victory to give undefeated Santa Fe Trail all it could handle in the first game of the third match of the night, as the Spartans used three service aces, scrappy team defense and three kills from junior Jessica Decker to play to a tie at 17.
But Santa Fe Trail’s power combo of Emily Forbes and Jessica Whitaker put down any thoughts of a Spartan upset in the first game, as Forbes recorded two kills and Whitaker served up two aces and a block to help Santa Fe Trail come away with the 25-19 victory in Game 1.
“They hit pretty hard,” Naab said of the Santa Fe Trails hitters, “but for me, as a middle hitter, it was their sets that made it so tough because it was hard to get out to the outsides once they shot the ball out there.”
The second game was no contest, as Santa Fe Trail burst out to a 7-1 lead and never let up, downing the Spartans 25-12 behind seven kills from Forbes.
“(Santa Fe Trail) is a nice team,” Bloomquist said. “I would have liked to have seen us play better in the second game. We competed well in the first game even though we lost ... but that second game was not us at all.”
Even with the victory against Mill Valley and the positive play at times during the other matches, Bloomquist said she still expected better play from her squad.
“I told our team afterwards that it was a matter of them taking care of things,” Bloomquist said. “If they believe they can, then things will turn around.”