 This is one of those times.I have been freelance writing
(translated, that means I do not pretend to be a real journalist, I
don't do this for my day job, and I don't require money to do it)
about Lincoln High School volleyball now since the 2000 season. In
my "rookie" season, the Lady Railers went to the IHSA state finals
at ISU. LCHS lost in the semifinal game to eventual state champion
and volleyball powerhouse Chicago Mother McAuley. I watched as the
Lady Railers proudly hauled home the fourth-place trophy.
Since that initial reporting I have had the privilege of covering
six more Lady Railer teams. My writing has been well received by
most everyone. The players' responses have been especially
gratifying, even when some articles contained my constructive
criticism of a certain aspect of a given match. I have benefited
more from my writing than anyone else, in that I have formed many
lifelong friendships with players, coaches and families. I have
autographed pictures on my walls and thank-you notes from players
that still can bring tears to my eyes. I have watched many of these
young ladies grow up, some to play college volleyball, most to come
back for visits to LCHS and several to still read my articles online
thanks to the vision of the owners of the Lincoln Daily News.
Last year, when the season was over, I wondered IF I should
continue writing. In my last article of the season I solicited your
response to that question. Many of you e-mailed me or spoke to me
around town and told me to keep on keeping on. To those who did, I
say a sincere "thank you." On the other hand, I suspect that some
who would prefer that I "shut up" chose not to write or speak to me
about it, even though their comments would have been equally
welcomed. Even after weighing all the input, the question has still
nagged at me since last November.
As the 2007 Lady Railer volleyball season rapidly approached, I
was still undecided. I read over some of my articles from the past
seven seasons to refresh my journalistic memory, and then I sat down
and made a list of reasons to continue to write and reasons not to.
My "not to" list was long. It included some self-critical items like
"who really cares what you have to say" and "there are others who
could do a better job than me." Other "not to" reasons included my
primary concern -- my intelligent, beautiful, talented and
compassionate daughter being a member of the varsity squad and my
ability to be both freelance reporter and Dad (my favorite
title) at the same time. Add to that side of the list my school
board presidency, my busy schedule as a lawyer, my need to say less
and listen more, and that side of the list got to be well over 20 in
number.
Then came the reasons "to keep writing" side of the list. I wrote
down several, but I ended up erasing all of them except one. As I
read my past articles, I remembered exactly why I had started to
write and why I will continue to write, so long as I am given the
forum to do so. That reason? The young women who call themselves
Railers… Lady Railers, that is. I write for a young high school
sophomore named Kari McFadden that I met on the 2000 squad, and her
younger sister, Miche, a few years later, and her youngest sister,
Jamie, on this year's squad. I write for Brooklyn Robbins, Megan
Hoffert, Natalie Boward, Kristina Cook, Maria Benitez, Robin Conklen,
Missy Aper, Christina Xamis, Kendall Paulus and many other wonderful
young women who have honorably worn the Lady Railer uniform. I write
to encourage this year's team, including especially No. 2. I write,
I have written, for the encouragement of all of them as they play
volleyball, but more importantly as they learn about LIFE through
playing volleyball. That's my one reason. It outweighs everything
else.
One final reflection before we talk about last night's action.
What I write here is purely my observations and opinions. They are
not necessarily the opinions of the Lincoln Daily News. They
are definitely not the opinions of my wife or my daughter, my dog,
or anyone else. Anyone who doesn't like what I write can feel
free to not like it and give me whatever grief they want to
disperse. Grief for what I write should not be given to anyone else.
But, enough for my reflections and ramblings. Let's get to the
games.
[to top of second column]
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Lincoln vs. Normal West
Thursday night the Lady Railers won their sixth game of the 2007
season by defeating Normal West in the Railers' home opener at Roy
S. Anderson gymnasium. The Lady Railers united in a team effort to
defeat a good Wildcat team by a match score of 25-21, 12-25 and
25-22. The Railers improve to 6-3 and 1-0 in CS8 play. The Lady
Railers head to Washington, Mo., this weekend to play in the always
tough St. Francis Borgia tournament. This tournament features
several teams that hope to contend for the Missouri state volleyball
championships in their respective classes.
The Lady Railers' five previous victories have come at the
expense of Peoria Richwoods and conference foe Springfield Lanphier
in single-match settings and Civic Memorial (Bethalto), Incarnate
Word Academy and Red Bud in the prestigious Edwardsville Tournament
last weekend. LCHS took second place in the Silver Division of the
Edwardsville Tournament, losing only to a 4A powerhouse team from
Collinsville and local rival Morton in a three-game championship
match.
Now, back to last night.
If I never have to see another match like last night's match, I
will be happy. The Railers started out the night hitting on all
cylinders, had a temporary meltdown in game two and fought their way
to victory in a close game three to win the match
To say that Jamie McFadden carried much of the weight in the
team's victory would be an understatement. In game one she did it at
the service line, and in game three she did it a the net. In between
she did it on defense. All totaled, McFadden ended the night with a
massive 18 kills, nine service points, two blocks and 10 digs. She
was everywhere.
Everywhere she was not, her teammates were in the two games the
Railers won. Helping at the net was Hilary Hobler, who amassed 10
kills to her credit for the night. On defense, Molly Goodrich led
the team with 12 digs of her own, in addition to her setting duties,
which tallied her 14 assists. Ashley Bonaparte led the setting duo
with 16 assists of her own.
As a result of all this and the rest of the Lady Railer squad,
games one and three went well and led to the Railer victory.
Game two was another matter. The Railers quickly trailed 1-5 and
3-7. That was just the beginning of the trouble. A referee error
(and I can assure you I got the real story from the players)
led to a lineup mix-up for Lincoln, which led to a confused Railer
squad, which led to a meltdown, which led to a loss. I am sure the
players want to chalk that one up as something you never want to
experience ever again in your volleyball career. However to their
substantial credit, the Railers bounced back from the lineup
difficulties and won game three and the match. So, enough said.
The Lady Railers return home to face CS8 conference foe
Springfield High School on Tuesday. Come and see. This year's team
is sporting a 007 James Bond theme and can be seen sporting shirts
(designed by the multitalented coach Crawford) that read: "The
name's Railers … Lady Railers"
GO, RAILERS!!
LCHS JV also victorious
The junior varsity also pulled out a hard-fought victory Thursday
over a feisty Wildcat team from Normal West. The teams stretched the
match to three games ending in scores of 25-18, 13-25 and 17-15 in
favor of the Lady Railers.
Emily Sheley led the team effort with six kills and four blocks.
The serving duties were handled well by Kate Anderson with eight
service points and Kayla Riggs with an additional six. Both ladies
had three aces each in their 14 combined service points.
The junior varsity is undefeated at 4-0 and will continue its
conference play at home on Tuesday at 6 p.m.
[Rick
L. Hobler]
Respond to the writer at
rhobler@lccs.edu.
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