WHITEHALL — Whitehall appeared on the verge of scoring its long-awaited first win of the season Thursday night at home against Shelby when it built an early lead in game three, but a big late run by the Tigers dashed those dreams.
Shelby knocked off Whitehall 25-27, 25-17, 25-20 in the middle match of a tri at Whitehall. The Vikings previously fell to Kent City, 25-19, 25-19.
After Whitehall's game one win, its first game win of the season, it had leads in both of the following games as well, but couldn't hold on. The losses dropped the Vikings to 0-12 on the year.
No doubt the early drought has been frustrating to Whitehall, though coach Claire McGrew takes heart in that it hasn't seemed to bring about a negative impact on team chemistry.
"I'm still so appreciative that the girls love each other," McGrew said. "They're there
to support one another. That's always one of the first steps, is making
sure the girls all like each other, or get to a point where they all
like each other. That just came
naturally. I feel like going through this experience, a little
bit of a drought, has really brought them closer to the point where
they're able to help and support one another in practice."
Errors were the main culprit in Whitehall's struggles; the Vikings had 26 attack miscues on the night in the five games played and made 14 service errors. The strongest part of the game for Whitehall was blocking at the net, as the team totaled nine blocks, five of them by Delaney Kramer. Though there were more service errors than the Vikes would like, they also had 20 aces, including five each by Kate Beda and Ryleigh Smith.
Whitehall's Lou Mulder makes a pass against Kent City during Thursday's tri meet at home. The Vikings went 0-2 at the tri, falling to Kent City and to Shelby.
McGrew said her team did a better job getting into the match right away against Shelby than it has in other matches this season, and those better starts have been an emphasis in practice.
"Against Shelby, we did a good job
starting on time," McGrew said. "We've got to clean up a few errors
here and there in practice, but we keep looking for improvement. We're right on the brink now. It's going to come."
McGrew also made a lineup tweak Thursday, running a two-setter system with Peyton Schultz (who had a team-high 13 assists) and Lou Mulder. Illness running its way through the team may have contributed to the switch, as three Vikings did not play Thursday. She didn't commit to running the same system going forward, but added, "We shall see."
"I think Peyton Schultz and Lou Mulder stepped up and really owned their
roles and helped us today with starting on time and getting into our
offense," McGrew said.
Between the performance against Shelby and a close three games against Ludington two days prior, it seems inevitable the Vikings will break into the win column soon enough. Until then, McGrew likes the team's mentality.
"It gave us great feedback," McGrew said of the tough loss to the Orioles. "It was one of those losses we could learn a
lot from, which is great. There was no hanging our heads down. We took
it at face value...I feel like Shelby's going to be similar to that when
we watch film."
Mayson Milliron led the Vikings in digs, with 26. and Beda had 17. Kramer was the top attacker, with 16 kills and an impressive .256 hitting percentage.
