Lady Eagles confident about future

Volleyball team prepares for sub-state

Silver Lake volleyball is used to nothing less than superiority. They have won three State championships since 1998 and have also been state runner-up three times.

This year, however, the girls have struggled to a 14-9 record. This fact has surprised many people since this year's seniors have two state championships under their belt and were supposed to be one of the top contenders in the state. However, Silver Lake Head Coach Angie Bittner explained why their record does not really reflect how effective the Lady Eagles are now.

Bittner said, "We had very tough opponents at the beginning of our season. They are definitely not matches we can win if we're not playing well. We were not playing our best at the beginning and were able to identify lots of things to work on, which gets us to the point we are now- still making small adjustments to become very, very tough by sub state time.

"When our record is compared with other 3A records across the state, it doesn't seem very representative of our playing level, as many of those teams haven't played the school size and competition that we have. I don't mind taking those losses as it makes us better than many teams with outstanding records."

She said one of the upsides of this year's team are the seniors. Along with two state championships, the seniors also exhibit leadership and have stepped up on the floor.

Bittner said, "Jenni Holmer has probably sparked us the most with her outstanding offensive and defensive play. She leads us in kills (164), hitting percentage (.243), kills per game (3.06) solo blocks (17), total digs (169) and digs per game (3.19). She is second or third in every other statistical category.

"Jenny Fritz has done an excellent job of becoming a great team and floor leader. She goes beyond her individual play to ensure that the rest of the team is playing well and staying together and focused."

Even though the team hasn't played up to some people's expectations, the seniors feel that they are improving and peaking at the right time of the year.

Holmer said, "We are getting better and better every time we play. We have things to work on, but we've also improved in many things. Communicating is one of the things we've been practicing. In practice, we have consequences if we don't call out the ball or communicate with each other."

Senior Ashley Lewicki said, "I feel that we haven't played up to people's expectations this year, but I feel that we are improving as a team in practice every day."

Fritz added, "We've been working out the kinks in practice every day. We've been communicating as a team a lot better. If we play up to our potential at sub-state, we'll be fine."

One of the teams the Lady Eagles will be focusing on the most are the Rossville Bulldogs. Rossville beat the Eagles in the last outing. They are also one of the top teams in the state.

Bittner said, "I definitely think Rossville will be the toughest opponent in the sub-state and possibly the state, so if we're good enough and prepared enough to beat them, we can beat the other opponents as well."

One of the strengths about this Eagle team is that they will accept nothing less than excellence and that they haven't had too much pressure with which to deal.

Bittner said, "This team doesn't feel that much pressure because they are much different than last year's squad. The pressure I feel is not from our history, but from knowing what this team is capable of if we play our best for an entire day / tournament. Accepting less than excellent is not ok for me or for this squad."

Sub Navigation

• News
• Editorials
• Sports
• Features

Top