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Warriors want hot start
By Scott Tittrington
Little by little, Leah Wahl is seeing signs of progress in her Smithville High volleyball team.
Now, as the midpoint of the 2008 season nears, she figures it’s about time to put those small moments together and achieve bigger success.
A prime opportunity awaits Saturday, Oct. 4, when the Warriors play host to the eight-team Northland Classic. Pool play will begin at 8:30 a.m., with Smithville hopeful of improving on last year’s fourth-place showing.
“It will be exciting. I’m ready for it,” said Wahl, who two weeks ago guided Smithville to the championship at the Richmond Tournament. “There’s a couple of teams there, we’ll definitely have to be on.
“But it will be nice, home court, staying here. You always want to do well in your home tournament.”
Smithville (8-4) will be joined by Chillicothe, Lawson and Lincoln Prep in its four-team pool, while the second pool includes St. Joseph Bishop LeBlond, St. Joseph Lafayette, North Platte and West Platte. All eight teams are then guaranteed at least one game in bracket play.
“We are all very pumped,” said junior libero Lauren Catlett. We really want to defend our honor here, because it’s our home court. We want to play well, and obviously win.”
One of the determining factors in that quest will be the Warriors’ ability to get off to a quick start — one of the little things that hasn’t quite been ironed out yet.
In its lone match last week, Smithville fell in a huge hole and never recovered during a 25-21, 14-25, 27-25 loss at LeBlond on Sept. 23.
Sophomore Emily Ready had 13 kills, while senior Allie Daraban dished out 17 assists.
While Wahl was impressed with a Game 1 resurgence that saw her team score 16 unanswered points, she certainly wasn’t excited about the fact that the rally came when the Warriors were so far down, they couldn’t nab the lead.
“I’m in the process of trying to figure that out,” Wahl said of the sluggish starts. “All the summer stuff that we did, that was always our issue.
“This Thursday night, we’ve got a match (against Lafayette), we’re going to try to warm up a little bit different, and hopefully that will change things up a bit.”
And Catlett is eager to see it translate into Saturday’s action.
“It’s very important to set the tone at the beginning of the tournament,” Catlett said. “Our attitude and how we’re reacting will set the tone for the rest of the day.”
Sports editor Scott Tittrington can be reached at 389-6632 or scotttittrington@npgco.com.
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Now, as the midpoint of the 2008 season nears, she figures it’s about time to put those small moments together and achieve bigger success.
A prime opportunity awaits Saturday, Oct. 4, when the Warriors play host to the eight-team Northland Classic. Pool play will begin at 8:30 a.m., with Smithville hopeful of improving on last year’s fourth-place showing.
“It will be exciting. I’m ready for it,” said Wahl, who two weeks ago guided Smithville to the championship at the Richmond Tournament. “There’s a couple of teams there, we’ll definitely have to be on.
“But it will be nice, home court, staying here. You always want to do well in your home tournament.”
Smithville (8-4) will be joined by Chillicothe, Lawson and Lincoln Prep in its four-team pool, while the second pool includes St. Joseph Bishop LeBlond, St. Joseph Lafayette, North Platte and West Platte. All eight teams are then guaranteed at least one game in bracket play.
“We are all very pumped,” said junior libero Lauren Catlett. We really want to defend our honor here, because it’s our home court. We want to play well, and obviously win.”
One of the determining factors in that quest will be the Warriors’ ability to get off to a quick start — one of the little things that hasn’t quite been ironed out yet.
In its lone match last week, Smithville fell in a huge hole and never recovered during a 25-21, 14-25, 27-25 loss at LeBlond on Sept. 23.
Sophomore Emily Ready had 13 kills, while senior Allie Daraban dished out 17 assists.
While Wahl was impressed with a Game 1 resurgence that saw her team score 16 unanswered points, she certainly wasn’t excited about the fact that the rally came when the Warriors were so far down, they couldn’t nab the lead.
“I’m in the process of trying to figure that out,” Wahl said of the sluggish starts. “All the summer stuff that we did, that was always our issue.
“This Thursday night, we’ve got a match (against Lafayette), we’re going to try to warm up a little bit different, and hopefully that will change things up a bit.”
And Catlett is eager to see it translate into Saturday’s action.
“It’s very important to set the tone at the beginning of the tournament,” Catlett said. “Our attitude and how we’re reacting will set the tone for the rest of the day.”
Sports editor Scott Tittrington can be reached at 389-6632 or scotttittrington@npgco.com.