The 'Eagle Times' Student Newspaper

The Lady Eagles clinched their second straight state volleyball title on Oct. 30. (Photo by Rachelle DeShazo)

REPEAT PERFORMANCE

Lady Eagles capture second straight state title

By Lindsey Davis and Abby Cunningham

November 01, 2004

The Lady Eagles proved once again why they are number one.

This past weekend, Silver Lake defeated all of their opponents at the 3A state volleyball tournament in Salina, claiming a second consecutive state championship.

Their first match was on Fri., Oct. 29, against Riverton. The Eagles prevailed, winning in two games with the scores of 25-11 and 25-14. Later that afternoon, they played Burlington and beat them with scores of 25-14 and 25-13.

Their final match of the evening was against Lakin, who they competed against last year for the state title. The game proved to be more challenging than the previous games because they lost 21-25. However, Silver Lake came back and won the second game 25-21. This split led to a third game, which the Eagles ended up winning, 26-24.

Despite losing the first game of the match versus Lakin, senior Andrea Childs, outside hitter, felt confident that they would defeat the Broncs.

“We knew the whole time we could come out with a win because we had been watching them all day, and they didn’t look as strong as they did last year,” stated Childs.

The three wins on Friday put the Lady Eagles in first place in their pool on Saturday. Their first match that day was against their Mid-East League archrivals, the Rossville Bulldogs. These two teams faced each other three times already during the regular season, Silver Lake winning two of those matches.

This was a very tough match for both teams; however, Rossville pulled out a win during the first game, 25-21. The second game was quite a battle between the teams, but the Lady Eagles came out on top, 30-28. The Lady Eagles proved that they deserved another chance at a state title as they won the third game, 25-17.

The Lady Eagles were pumped up and ready to defend their 2003 title on Oct. 30. (Photo by Rachelle DeShazo)

Ronnie Anderson, senior middle hitter, commented that besides winning state, the Rossville defeat was another significant highlight of the tournament.

“Playing Rossville and beating them (was big) because they thought they were going to meet us in the championship game and beat us,” Anderson said.

Three seniors were named to the All-State Tournament Team following this weekend’s competition, including Tanya Pfannenstiel, Anderson and Childs.

Pfannenstiel, senior setter, who was also honored last year, expressed how it felt to be selected again.

“It was an honor to be recognized because there are a lot of girls at the tournament and being recognized made me feel like my hard work has paid off. Being recognized this year was awesome because it was my senior year, and I have gotten recognized two years in a row now. It is a great feeling,” exclaimed Pfannenstiel.

This is the third state title in Silver Lake volleyball history. Childs said that she is happy to be a part of this tradition.

The team members congratulate one another after their emotional tournament play. (Photo by Rachelle DeShazo)

“It’s an honor. Some athletes go through high school never winning a single state title and to win two volleyball championships is unbelievable,” Childs stated.