AKRON — The Whitko volleyball team seemed to lead the majority of Wednesday's Three Rivers Conference match at Tippecanoe Valley, it just didn't lead at the right times. In a three-game loss (26-24, 25-22, 25-22), the Whitko Lady Wildcats (3-19, 1-6 TRC) led 22-12 in the first game, 21-16 in second and 18-10 in the third, but managed to lose each to the host Tippecanoe Valley Lady Vikings (8-15, 4-2 TRC). "We definitely have the ability, but the consistency isn't there," Whitko coach Brandy Smith said. "Also, toward the end of the season, teamwork has also struggled. Someone will be doing good, while someone else is doing bad. It's not even one person I can pin it to. Everybody seems to be off at certain times. "It's not like something we can fix, because it's not one problem we're consistently getting beat on," she added. "It's everything. It could be a mishit, a missed pass, a serve in the net — anything." The latter part of games were Whitko's downfall, but it was the early stages of them that were difficult for Valley. "Both teams made some key errors — our team right at the beginning, and their team at the end," Valley coach Abby Turner said. "But I felt the girls played well as a team." Despite the slow starts, Valley did sprint to the end, using a 15-2 run to win Game 1, a 9-1 run to take Game 2 and a 9-0 run to take control of Game 3. "This is good for us to build our confidence for (Class 2A No. 7) Southwood (Tuesday) and Bremen (Oct. 13), then sectionals," Turner said. "I thought the girls played well. We kind of waited until halfway through the games before stepping up, but I felt like they showed me they were mentally strong in this match. That's something we've been working on all season." To begin the match, it appeared Whitko was the better team, as it jumped out to its big lead, utilizing the hard-hitting of senior Karissa Olinske, as well as the height of sophomores Whitney Hobbs and Taylor Zwick. Building its initial 22-11 lead in Game 1, Olinske had five of her team-high eight kills, while Hobbs and Zwick were getting tips on numerous Valley strikes. "Our girls were seeing that block, and they were hitting right into it and getting blocked a lot," Turner said. " So, we just had to move our sets around them and get our hitters out around the blocks." Once Valley made the adjustments, things went better as freshman Caylie Teel led the attack with nine kills, followed by by sophomore Sara Alexander and junior Courtney Newsome, who had eight each. Also for Valley, sophomore Kelsey Ball had five blocks and Alexander posted three, while senior Megan Bibler had 20 digs and freshman Tenaya Shull finished with a match-high 20 assists. Along with Olinske's kill total, senior Sammy Klerner had 25 digs and junior Meghan Peters led Whitko with 16 assists. The Lady Wildcats now gear up to host their own invitational Saturday morning, and while the end of the regular season is around the corner, Smith is vowing to see her team through the rough patches. "I'm not giving up on them until that very last point in sectionals, when it's over," Smith said.
TIPPECANOE VALLEY DEF. WHITKO 26-24, 25-22, 25-22 Kills — Caylie Teel (TV) 9, Sara Alexander (TV) 8, Courtney Newsome (TV) 8, Karissa Olinske (W) 8, Kelsey Ball 6, Connor Fraser (TV) 6, Whitney Hobbs (W) 6; Assists — Tenaya Shull (TV) 20, Meghan Peters (W) 16, Kelsey Eckert (TV) 13; Digs — Sammy Klerner (W) 25, Megan Bibler (TV) 20, Danielle Adams (TV) 15, Olinske (W) 13, Teel (TV) 11, Staci Groom (TV) 7; Blocks — Ball (TV) 5, Alexander (TV) 3, Taylor Zwick (W) 3, Fraser (TV) 2, Teel (TV) 2, Hobbs (W) 2; Aces — Adams (TV) 3, Olinske (W) 2, Audra Day (W) 2; Record — Whitko 3-19 (1-6 TRC), Valley 8-15 (4-2 TRC)
