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It actually starts in the early hours of that morning. Seniors get
to prescribe the "wearing apparel" for all their non-senior
teammates throughout the school day. This year's fashion-setting
ideas included the wearing of ponytails looped through the legs of
spandex volleyball pants on the head. Modeling magazines are sure to
be calling soon. Thanks to Erin, Michelle and Shannon for the
fashion show!
LCHS volleyball seniors: Michelle Fitzpatrick, Erin Frick and Shanan
McLaughlin.
[picture by Rick Hobler]
The Lady Railer seniors were officially honored at the beginning
of their match with Central State Eight foe Springfield Southeast.
This year the Railers will lose three seniors from their very
successful program: Erin Frick, Michelle Fitzpatrick and Shanan
McLaughlin.
Erin has been a consistently powerful hitter and blocker for the
Railers during her career and, this year, has added some excellent
serving to her resume. When the ball is set to Erin at the net, 99
percent of the time you can automatically add points to the Lady
Railer side of the scoreboard. I have come to affectionately refer
to her as "Everytime Erin," based on her consistency at the net. She
has been selected to numerous all-tournament teams over her career
at LCHS and will move on to play college volleyball next year.
Michelle has been the Railers' much-recognized defensive
specialist, and this year, with the IHSA rule change, became the
team's first officially designated defensive specialist, known as a
libero. Michelle has been selected to numerous all-tournament teams
this year and was the MVP of the preseason tournament in Rolla, Mo.
Shanan has been an excellent server in her own right and has been
a consistently good player on defense. Shanan is also one of the
emotional leaders of the Lady Railers, as she is always cheering on
and encouraging her teammates while on the court and off.
Thanks, seniors! You will each be missed. But not yet. You have
two more to win on your home floor in the regionals next week and
then some more in various locations in Normal (Normal Community and
Redbird Arena) after that.
As for the volleyball match that was the stated reason for
yesterday's frivolity, it went quite well for the Lady Railers. In
fact it wasn't even close. The Lady Railers came out victorious with
a 25-12, 25-11 win. The varsity is 4-2 in CS8 play, with one
remaining conference match on Thursday at Springfield High School.
[to top of second column in this article]
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 In game one, the Railers jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead on the
excellent serving of Ashley Meyrick. After a kill from Erin Frick
and a series of nice serves from Shanan McLaughlin, the Railers were
up 11-3. At 14-8 Erin took over at the net, and after four straight
unreturnable kills, the score stood at 18-9. Natalie Boward's
serving and Jamie McFadden's net play got the home team to 24-12,
and an Erin Frick kill finished off the Spartans in game one.
Game two was almost an exact copy of game one. With Southeast
playing at a snail's pace, the usually quick Railers also slowed
down. The Railers, however, picked up the pace quickly and went on
to win easily by the score of 25-11. In addition to the great play
by the seniors, Ashley Bonaparte and Melissa Ramlow had some
excellent scoring stretches from the service line.
Overall, the seniors dominated the statistics. Erin Frick led the
team in kills with nine and added one block to her totals. Shanan
McLaughlin led the team in digs with four, along with junior Katie
Conklen, followed closely by Michelle Fitzpatrick with three digs.
Shanan also led the Lady Railers at the service line, along with
Melissa Ramlow, with six service points each.
Next, the Lady Railers will have a tough match on Thursday,
against a Springfield High School team that beat a good Bloomington
High School team last week. Bloomington beat LCHS earlier this
season. The Lady Railers will have to play well on Springfield's
home court to come away with a victory.
But now that the senior night fun is over and only one
regular-season match remains on Thursday, the question that must be
answered is this: Where will the Lady Railers go in the postseason?
I will try to address that issue in an article Friday after the
Springfield match. Stay tuned.
GO, RAILERS!!
[Rick
Hobler]
Respond to the writer at
rhobler@lccs.edu.
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