To Every Season

As one season was beginning on Friday morning, another one was coming to a close…flurries were in the air as the girls boarded the bus and headed Northeast to Hays, on their quest for a state title.

After two hours, we had arrived on Vine and headed to our “usual” pre-state restaurant, Napoli’s, where the girls filled up on pasta and Italian eats. The mood was light as the girls joked around, but yet you could see a fire in their eyes…they were ready to get to the Coliseum and play some ball.

Once we got to the Coliseum on Fort Hays State’s campus, the girls got changed just in time for the Opening Ceremonies. After the teams were announced and the Star Spangled Banned played, it was game time!

Hoxie was up first and I think the girls may have had a few jitters in their system because we lost the first set 16-25. We fought back to win the second set 25-22 and battled in the third set, but came up just a little bit short, losing 18-25.

After a couple of hours off, we took the floor to face Centralia. I’m not certain if any of you have ever seen Centralia play, but they are good and have a laundry list of accomplishments and have been to state numerous times. Like Hoxie we started out a bit shaky and ended up losing the first set 16-25, but came back to win the second set 27-25. We began the third set strong and the girls were playing well, but we just couldn’t finish like we needed to and lost 17-25.

Waverly was up next and the girls were playing for pride. With our defeat from the other two teams, we knew at that point we weren’t going to make it out of pool play, but the girls dug down deep to battle Waverly and come out with a win. Things didn’t click the first set and we lost 13-25, but they quickly regrouped and came back to win the next two sets, 25-21.

Our suitcases came back a little lighter than we hoped, but I cannot tell you how proud I am of these girls. I am truly blessed to be part of such a wonderful team and want to thank each and every one of them for their heart and their hard work throughout this season, and that includes Coach Wyrick and Coach Kreutzer as well.

As the volleyball nets are lowered and the girls begin to prepare for basketball, my whistle will hang in my closet until next year…only 290 days or so, but hey who’s counting?