MONTAGUE — Many of Whitehall's players had not yet seen a stage quite like the district semifinal Wednesday against a Spring Lake program with a lot of pedigree.
The Vikings showed that inexperience early in a 25-13, 25-17, 25-20 loss, but played more competitively as the match wore on. That gives the team and coach Claire McGrew motivation to come back next fall and produce a better outcome.
"It's really hard to keep morale high (when you're struggling), but these girls stayed positive through that," McGrew said. "A lot of adversities came our way, and we just dealt with them and rolled with it, which is super admirable. I'm really proud of these girls. I think they're really paving the way for a new traditional program here at Whitehall. I told them that even if they haven't seen the success, they truly are setting it up for the future girls in this program."
Spring Lake overwhelmed the Vikings early in game one, jumping out to a 16-4 lead. Whitehall was able to adjust to the speed of the match eventually and rallied to score several late points, and parlayed that finish into a 4-1 lead early in game two. However, the Lakers stormed back to tie the score at 10, took the lead a few points later, and ultimately pulled away.
Game three was similar, with Whitehall taking a 4-2 lead to start off before six straight Laker points turned the momentum. The Vikings did make one final push late in the game before Spring Lake finished it off.
McGrew said errors were an issue for Whitehall in trying to sustain any momentum. It goes without saying that the Lakers, the No. 2 seed in the district, are a strong opponent against whom any team must bring a strong performance to defeat, and at times Whitehall appeared close to that level of play. Consistency is the area the Vikes will work hardest to address before next fall.
"If we put free balls out of bounds, that's on us," McGrew said. "That's an unforced error. Being able to limit those about to a couple of a game versus 7-10, that's huge, That's like free points, if you think about it. We started off getting aced. Their serving was great, but our adjustments were a little slow."
McGrew and other coaches in the program are working to build participation at all levels, including bringing back an elementary school league. Some returning players will play at the club level during the offseason, and open gym activities will certainly continue throughout the school year.
The thing the Vikings can take the most pride in, McGrew said, was their effort level never wavering throughout the season.
"One thing that we have been complimented (on) all season, and that's what I just told the girls, is that we have played hard regardless of the outcome," McGrew said. "At the end, we've really been playing our best volleyball, which is all I can ask for. We're young, so coming into a district semifinal, there's a lot of weight on that still...Having a chip on our shoulder, we now have that experience, so we're able to lean back on it in the future."
