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I acquired this trait genetically from my father. I worry about all
kinds of things, and sometimes worry when I have nothing to worry
about.
That's where I am right now with the 2006 Lady Railer varsity
volleyball squad.
It all started Tuesday night.
On Tuesday as I watched the first match of the 2006 season, I
began to worry when a little-talented team from Peoria Richwoods
gave the Lady Railers a run for their money. Fortunately for the
home team, Richwoods could not keep the ball in play, could not
serve and played little back-row defense, and the Railers prevailed
25-13, 25-18. That still worried me. I decided to chalk it up to
first-game jitters and looked forward to seeing the "real" Lady
Railers play on Thursday against Morton.
Unfortunately, Thursday night's varsity match did nothing to
relieve my worries. As I watched the warm-ups, it was clear that
Lincoln outnumbered the Potters from Morton, who had only nine
players on their varsity roster. I was confident that the Morton
nine could not overcome the Lincoln many. The first game proved me
wrong.
In spite of Morton "giving" the Railers six points for free by
serving the ball either into the net or out of bounds, the Railers
could manage only nine additional points and lost 15-25. The game
started out well enough as the Railers jumped out to a 5-1 lead.
Morton then ran off five successive unanswered points to put them up
6-5. Then came Morton's third missed serve to knot the score at 6-6.
A few minutes later, with the score still close at 10-12 in favor of
the Potters, my worries began to come true. Morton ran off the next
six straight points, mostly on the back of Railer mistakes. Coach
Howe had had enough and called timeout for a little face-to-face
talk. Apparently Jamie McFadden got the message, as two hammered
kills brought the Railers to within five points at 13-18.
Unfortunately that was about it for the Railers, as they could
manage only two more points, both on missed serves by Morton, and
game one ended with Morton on top by the score of 25-15.
Having watched the Railers for many years, especially this junior
class, I was well aware that they have many times been known as the
"cardiac kids." This name was acquired due to the many times they
have almost lost but came back in the end to win, while giving their
coaches a potential heart attack in the process. That appeared to be
the scenario that would play itself out in the second game of the
match.
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In game two, the Morton nine put the Lady Railers down early 0-3.
Lincoln came back to even the score at 4-4 with a McFadden block and
another Morton miscue. Ashley Meyrick helped the Railers get to a
7-8 score after a nice kill and a block brought some life back to
her team. That "life" was quickly knocked out of the Railers. A bad
serve and two errant sets put Morton up 11-7. McFadden and Kylie
Sparks got successive kills to move the Railers to within two. The
Railers blocked the next two balls out of bounds and were then
called for a rotation error, and the score stood at 9-14. The
Potters then went on an eventful three-point run where they blocked
every Railer kill that attempted to get over the net and dug out
every ball that did make it through their blocks. At 11-17, Howe
needed another talk. Timeout Lincoln. The timeout talk was
effective, as evidenced by some inspired play by Meyrick and
McFadden on the front row. Three monster kills from Jamie and an
in-your-face block from Meyrick put the score at 16-18. Now Morton
needed to talk. It appeared the Morton nine were wearing down. I was
wrong. Over the next few minutes a battle ensued between the cardiac
kids and the nine. After a defensive error and a hitting error by
the Railers left the score at 19-23, it appeared that Lincoln was
done. Natalie Boward decided otherwise and got a kill and then a
block to bring the home team back to 21-23. But it was too little,
too late. There would be no miraculous comeback this time. Morton
ended it with a nice tip, and after another missed serve, a kill
from their excellent player Shannon McGlaughlin ended the Railer
hopes at 23-25.
The Railers fall to 1-1 overall. They will have two tough matches
on the road next week at Bloomington High School and at Normal West.
I am confident Lincoln will be up to the challenge. It's early. But
I'm a little worried. But that's just me. GO, RAILERS!
Railer junior varsity wins in three
The junior Lady Railers came out slow and finished strong to
defeat their counterparts from Morton on Thursday night at Roy S.
Anderson gymnasium. The JV remained undefeated at 2-0 with a 20-25,
25-16 and 25-21 win over the Potters.
The Railers showed some strong serving from Amy Kelley, Hilary
Hobler, Emily Berglin and Hannah McShane. Amy Kelley did some
strategic setting, especially in the crucial game three to help her
team win. Hilary Hobler and Emily Sheley played particularly well at
the net. Hobler also added some point-saving defense (or in her
father's totally unbiased words, "awesome and amazing" defense) to
help her team win.
Overall the team played well (and most importantly as a team) to
pull out a tough win over an excellent Morton squad. The junior
Railers move on to some even tougher competition next week at
Bloomington and Normal West. GO, RAILERS!
[Rick
Hobler]
Respond to the writer at
rhobler@lccs.edu.
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