Season ends for Centre volleyball team
There were tears in some players eyes Oct. 22, after the Centre High volleyball team lost to Hamilton during the 1A regional tournament held at Centre. Seniors Ashlee Bowman and Stephanie Heiser realized their years of playing high school volleyball were finished.
The team ended the season with 10 wins and 15 losses.
The losing season wasn't for a lack of effort, according to Coach Yvonne Burhoop.
She said the whole team had a good work ethic, putting a lot into each practice.
She was frustrated by the fact that they often got ahead in games only to let potential wins slip away.
"I wish I could put my finger on it," she said. "Maybe it was their youth."
She noted that, with only 13 girls on the squad, half of them freshmen, the varsity players were involved in every match and got a lot of experience.
"The desire was there, but they couldn't put it together."
As for the seniors, she emphasized that they will take with them the lessons they learned from being on the team and memories of fun times shared.
"It's more than just the win, loss record," she said.
The girls played the first three games in the tournament with Hamilton, coming out strong and determined.
Good front line spiking by junior Laura Klenda and Bowman got Centre off to a good start, but Hamilton tied the score 7-7 and gradually gained on Centre, winning 15-12.
In game two, the Hamilton team seemed to fall apart. Centre won easily, 15-3.
The third game was exciting and close all the way. The two teams tied six times before Hamilton managed to win 15-13.
During the match, Klenda spiked the ball a total of 31 times out of 40 attempts and had 18 kills. Heiser had 11 of 11 spikes and Bowman 11 of 14.
Sophomore Jill Fenske led the scoring with 14 total points, followed by junior Raschelle Jirak with 13.
Statistics
Team serving: 17/20, 22/23, 26/28.
Scoring: Game 1 — Fenske 5, Jirak 3, Jackie Klenda 2; Game 2 — Jirak 6, Fenske 6, Bowman 3; Game 3 — Jirak 4, Fenske 3, Brianne Stahlecker 3, Bowman 2.
Individual aces: Bowman 2, Jirak 2, Klenda 1, Fenske 1.
Spikes: L. Klenda 31/40, Heiser 11/11, Bowman 11/14, Jirak 3/3, Fenske 8/9.
Kills/blocks: L. Klenda 18/1, Heiser 3/2, Bowman 3/0, Jirak 2/1, Fenske 3/2.
Setting: Stahlecker 41/42, 12 for a kill; Jirak 15/16, 5 for a kill.
White City won the tournament by defeating Hope in two games with scores of 15-6 and 15-9. The two teams will advance to sub-state play.
