SOUTH WHITLEY — Having swept Manchester in three games on Aug. 23, the Whitko volleyball team had to be feeling confident going into Thursday’s rematch in South Whitley. “In years past, we've always lost to Manchester, so that (Aug. 23 match) was not at all what we expected,” second-year Whitko coach Brandy Smith said. “Then, we kind of expected them to find something in the past two weeks. So, we were prepared for anything tonight.” In the opening game, the Whitko Lady Wildcats breezed to a 25-12 win, but lost the second 25-19, before coming back to take the next two 25-14 and 25-15 to win the best-of-five match. Outside of the Game 2 loss, Whitko had total control of the match, claiming the Three Rivers Conference victory. “I think they forgot we were the new Whitko,” Smith said about losing the second game. “We've been working out of this mentality of the old Whitko, that 'Oh, Whitko isn't consistent. We don't win games.' I've got a team right now that's working well together.” Two girls playing well were sophomore Maddie Gawthrop and junior Whitney Hobbs, who finished with 11 and eight kills, respectively. “When they have confidence, and our passers get the ball to the setters, that's a momentum changer with those two girls,” Smith said. Setting the two girls up was senior Meghan Peters, who finished with 29 assists, while junior Jenny Brown and sophomore Elaine Warner had 22 and 18 digs, respectively. While Whitko is looking to build something, Manchester is in a rebuild mode, having graduated five players. Among those losses were Meika Kennedy, Tiffany Clark, Malyssa Bedke and Natalee Cain, all of which received some kind of TRC All-Conference recognition last year. “We don't have very much experience, and that shows,” Manchester coach Sarah Lochner said. “That shows in our communication. It shows in our ball control, especially on nights like this. When we have no ball control and don't talk, you aren't going to win.” And an inexperienced squad can hang its head, which can result in some long runs, which happened Thursday. Manchester began its latest match down 13-1, then gave up another five runs of five or more points in the match. “We can't force the side-out when we need to and get things refocused and back under control,” Lochner said. “That's leadership and we need that.” Whitko hosts another TRC match Monday against Rochester, while Manchester is at Fort Wayne Canterbury Tuesday.
