Wilmot pushes Trails to limit

By Dan Truttschel~Sports Correspondent

 

Last week’s non-conference girls volleyball matchup between Indian Trails and visiting Wilmot appeared to be pretty evenly matched.

And that’s just how it played out – unfortunately for the Panthers, they were on the short end of the final score.

Wilmot dropped the first set, won the next two, but couldn’t finish it out in a 22-25, 25-23, 25-23, 9-25, 10-15 setback.

The Panthers hosted Waterford in the regular-season finale Tuesday night. Results of that Southern Lakes Conference contest were unavailable by press time.

Unforced errors played a key role in the loss to ITA, Wilmot coach Kevin Rapp said.

“I believe the biggest difference in the two teams was the ability to keep the ball in play when each team was on the attack,” he said.

“I think our serving and serve-receive was better than ITA’s was.

However, their attack was better than ours. It is volleyball’s version of good pitching versus good hitting. Their hitting was just a little better than our pitching that night.”

After the close loss in the opening set, the Panthers bounced back and were able to force ITA out of its offense, Rapp said.

“We were able to score the points on timely tips or tough serves,” he said.

For whatever reason, the Panthers seemed to lose focus after they took the 2-1 lead, especially in the fourth set, Rapp said.

“It seemed like the team was waiting for the Hawks to roll over and play dead,” he said. “Well, they didn’t. … The Hawks had that fire to finish the match off. Lesson to learn from this is you can not take any team lightly and have to play through every point.”

Statistical leaders included Teya Gaines with 10 kills; Haylee Martin with three kills and a .714 hitting percentage; Sam Kirk with five kills; Shannon Johnston with five aces; Lindsey Orre with three aces; and Sawyer Wightman with 21 digs.

Kirk, who led the Panthers in kills earlier in the week at Union Grove, continues to improve her volleyball skills every time she takes the court, Rapp said.

“Sam Kirk is a fantastic basketball player and has focused herself around improving her round-ball game,” he said. “We get to work with her for two to three months to improve her volleyball skills.

“Now that the season is coming to an end, she has learned not to hit to zone six, to tip to the right when she is double blocked and to swing hard to the setter’s position. She is incorporating these things in her game now and her stats are improving.”

Following Tuesday’s finale with Waterford, the Panthers return home Saturday, Oct. 19, to host the SLC Tournament. Action in the one-day event begins at 8:30 a.m.

 


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