Wildcats look ahead to 2010 after loss

FIRTH -- A disappointing loss in the district final Thursday didn’t stop the Cedar Bluffs volleyball team from looking forward to next season.

Following their 25-17, 25-21, 25-20 loss to Pawnee City in the D1-1 district final at Norris High School, Cedar Bluffs coach Janelle Stansberry said the Wildcats’ sights were already set on amending the defeat.

Stansberry heard her team say, ‘We’re going to get back here next year and we’re going to change the outcome.’

“So I’m anticipating that this will be a very motivating loss for them,” she said.

And after just finishing her first season back in coaching following a two-year absence, Stansberry is eager to get back in the gym as well.

“I’m already thinking, starting tomorrow, what we need to do to prepare,” she said.

Preparation time is something neither team had the luxury of going into Thursday’s match. Both teams had one day of practice following their subdistrict finals wins on Tuesday.

Add in the fact that Pawnee City runs an unconventional offense with their setter operating out of the middle, and it was a difficult task for the Wildcats.

“Even though we tried to prepare them for it in practice, I think it really just took them a while to get acclimated to what they needed to do,” Stansberry said.

The Wildcats did have things clicking early on in the first set, taking an 8-3 lead after an ace serve by Courtney Cleveringa. Pawnee City took its first lead of the set at 10-9 following three unforced errors by Cedar Bluffs.

Consecutive ace serves by Sam Roumph gave the Wildcats a 12-10 lead before the momentum started to swing to the Indians’ side.

In a set that featured five ties and five lead changes, Pawnee City took the lead for good at 15-14 and extended it to 17-14 following three straight kills by Callie Percival.

A kill by Kealy Schilke returned the serve to the Wildcats, but Pawnee City went to win eight of the final 10 rallies to clinch the opening set. The Indians tallied 15 kills in the first set -- paced by Percival and Janae Koester with five apiece -- compared to nine for Cedar Bluffs.

“We really didn’t execute our game plan,” Stansberry said, noting the Wildcats had hoped to utilize a quick attack from their middle hitters. “When we did execute our game plan we were successful, we just didn’t do that all of the time. I’ll give it to (Pawnee City), they played nice defense and picked a lot of things up.”

One long scoring run and unforced errors hindered the Wildcats in the second set. Cedar Bluffs saw Pawnee City’s 10-7 lead grow to double digits when the Indians strung together seven straight points.

The Wildcats regrouped to make a run late in the set. Two kills by Roumph and an ace by Cleveringa pulled Cedar Bluffs within 21-15. Later, two kills by Alexis Egger and an ace by Tana Stansberry shrunk the Indians’ lead to 24-21. But the Wildcats couldn’t handle an attack by Percival, who finished with a game-high 15 kills, and Pawnee City took the set.

Of the Indians’ 25 points, 12 were the result of unforced errors by the Wildcats.

“I just thought we played really kind of tight and tentative,” coach Stansberry said. “I told them it was going to come down to the team that made the fewest errors and we just made too many errors and they made a lot more plays than we did.”

Set three was a back and forth battle with seven ties and three lead changes.

Cedar Bluffs evened the score at 12-12 after two kills by Taryn Tenopir and another by Schilke. After trailing 19-16, the Wildcats put together three straight points to equal the score at 19-all.

The Indians (19-13) then went on to win six of the next seven rallies to clinch a spot in next week’s state tournament.

Despite the outcome, Janelle Stansberry couldn’t be more proud of Cedar Bluffs’ season, one in which the Wildcats more than doubled their win total from a year ago to finish at 17-15.

“I certainly can’t fault their heart, their desire and their hustle. That was always there,” she said. “I’m just so proud of them.”

Roumph and Schilke led the Wildcats’ offense with eight kills apiece. Roumph also had four ace blocks while Schilke had a team-high 15 digs.

Tenopir had five kills while Egger and Cleveringa recorded four and three, respectively. Tana Stansberry compiled 24 set assists, 10 digs and two ace blocks. Cleveringa and Kelsey Kruse each had six digs.

As they prepare for next season, the Wildcats only lose one senior starter in Schilke, but Stansberry said that will be a big hole to fill.

“Kealy left it all on the floor in her last game. She was solid in every aspect,” the Cedar Bluffs coach said. “I was very proud of how all of the girls played, but Kealy really stood out in how she competed. What she brings to the game will be greatly missed.”