SOUTH WHITLEY – An apparent sweep turned into a bit of a nail-biter Thursday night in South Whitley. Celebrating senior night with the Caston Lady Comets in town, the Whitko Lady Wildcats volleyball team won the opening two games 25-19, 25-15, but dropped the third 25-20 and fell behind 24-22 in the fourth, before rallying to take it, and the match, 29-27. “We just did that Monday night (at home against Central Noble),” Whitko coach Brandy Smith said. “We won the first two sets, then lost the third, fourth and fifth set. It was definitely not going to be a repeat. We weren't going to let that happen.” Staring a fifth game square in the face, trailing 24-22 in the fourth game, the Lady Wildcats scored three-straight points to take a 25-24 advantage. From there, Whitko had two match points, followed by one from Caston. Trailing the Lady Comets 27-26, Whitko benefitted from a missed hit by Caston before senior Whitney Hobbs put the match away with back-to-back kills. “This is the biggest crowd we've had all year, so the girls were really excited about that, and the crowd played a big part in us winning that fourth game,” Smith said. “If they hadn't been here, right behind the girls, getting them fired up, who knows what would have happened.” Hobbs finished the match with 10 kills and 10 blocks, while fellow senior middle hitter Taylor Zwick backed her up with five kills and five blocks. Hobbs and Zwick were two of the three seniors honored before the match, as fellow senior Dana Hobbs had 13 digs from her libero position. During the season, which has seen Whitko record nine wins, which is its most since winning its last Three Rivers Conference title in 1997, Whitney Hobbs has been the key, as has Zwick. Smith says she has some younger girls coming up, but the loss of the two 'bigs' will be tough to replace. “They are definitely going to be missed,” she said. Before bidding adieu to the girls, Whitko will face the 5-24 West Noble Lady Chargers in the opening match of Class 3A Sectional 21 Tuesday at West Noble High School. The Lady Wildcats have faced West Noble once this season, defeating the Lady Chargers in two games at Saturday's Whitko Invitational. That outcome has Smith feeling confident that her girls can do well in the opening match and move on to the 11 a.m. semifinals on Oct. 26 against Tippecanoe Valley. “I have high hopes for Tuesday night,” she said. As far as the underclassmen production in the regular season finale, junior Elaine Warner had 31 assists and four aces, junior Tressa Keim finished with 14 digs and three aces and junior Maddie Gawthrop posted 14 digs and nine kills.
