North Callaway didn't think it would be playing its first five-set match, let alone losing, on Wednesday at home.
Wright City then won its first set in 14 tries against North Callaway before …
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North Callaway didn't think it would be playing its first five-set match, let alone losing, on Wednesday at home.
Wright City then won its first set in 14 tries against North Callaway before taking the next two to stun the Ladybirds (25-22, 25-10, 20-25, 19-25, 11-15). North Callaway (5-6-2) had won four straight against Wright City (6-1).
Head coach Andrew Klein said he was praising Wright City's efforts more scrutinizing his players after the loss. Wright City hadn't played five sets before Wednesday and had to earn the right to do so from two sets down.
"They made way more plays than we did," Klein said. "I told the girls the exact same thing. Their back row is terrific. We've just got to be better in spots and finish plays out the right way."
Klein said volleyball is such a big momentum sport, and North Callaway had plenty of it after winning the second set 25-10. Everything seemed to be going right for the Ladybirds as they surged ahead 15-4 and maintained control through layout digs from Rylee Horstman and Peyton Boulware.
North Callaway was "scrappy" and made plays throughout the night, according to Klein, but Wright City refused to allow the ball hit the ground. The back row, led by libero Marli Burkhardt, countered the combined 84 swings from hitters Horstman (52 swings) and Alex Craighead (34 swings).
"It felt like we had a lot of great opportunties for kills," Klein said. "On most nights on 80 swings, they're going to get more than 26 kills. It wasn't even the errors that got us tonight. It was the great play of Wright City."
Horstman led with 16 kills, the libero Boulware led with 33 digs, Lauren Pezold led with 20 assists and 5 service aces,, and Icey Tomlinson led with 4 blocks. Craighead had 10 kills, and Kayden Sorell had 20 digs.
Klein said he liked how North Callaway passed the ball along with its attacking and believes it can bring those things into Thursday's 6:30 p.m. home match against conference foe Montgomery County (1-8). The Ladybirds defeated Montgomery County in three sets earlier this season in Montgomery City.
After losing the third and fourth sets, North Callaway did tie the fifth set at 11 before Wright City took the final four points of the match. Nevertheless, Klein said the locker room felt "unified" after the loss and everybody understood that this competitive match didn't go North Callaway's way. There are plenty of sets left to play this season, and Klein said it is great the Ladybirds don't have to wait too long to play again.
"It's such a great learning opportunity," Klein said. "As a coach, you hate it for them because that rips your heart out when you get up 2-0 and yet you lose three straight. It's one of those things that the girls are going to learn more from battling adversity like this than sweeping a team 3-0."
