Pullman captures state title
Pullman made it much harder than it had to be, but the Greyhounds claimed the State 2A volleyball championship.
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By
Staff writer
Archbishop Murphy refused to be swept. In fact, the Wildcats
extended the final to five sets before the Greyhounds finished what they had
started at the
A kill from rightside hitter Stephanie Logan on match point sprung a Greyhounds celebration loose that had been bottled up for two sets.
“It was crazy. It was all adrenaline,”
Weitz took over this year as head coach at
Still, when it had dawned on Weitz what his team had accomplished, he struggled to find the words to describe how he was feeling. It didn’t take long for Weitz to wax well about his team, especially his four seniors – Jordan Levenseller, Danielle Hodge, Katie Guettinger and Cayley Byrne.
“It’s unbelievable,” he said. “I don’t know what to say. It’s all about them.”
Two of the juniors – Logan and Shelby Cheslek – emphasized the state title was for the seniors.
“Our seniors were really the key to pulling this all together,” Cheslek said.
“The four seniors have gone through a lot,” Weitz said. “It’s going to be tough to replace them.”
Before the Greyhounds could celebrate, though, they had to fend off some taut moments. Especially in the middle two sets.
“They got tight,” Weitz said. “But in the end, they went out there to play to win. It went longer than I wanted it to go – by two games. This team came together and they played for each other the whole way through. That’s what it’s all about right there.”
When Hodge, who had a team-high 17 kills, put away the winner to end the second set, it appeared a state title was inevitable.
But Archbishop Murphy dug in, clawing for every point over the next two sets.
“Archbishop Murphy played great defense. They were scrappy,” Weitz said. “We felt like if we played our game we’d be fine. The first two games we played our game and the last game we played our game. The middle two we were out there trying not to lose. We just weren’t aggressive and we’re a very aggressive team.”
“We weren’t getting the swings that we usually do,”
Cheslek knew
“We really wanted it and we pulled through in the fifth game and that’s all that matters,” Cheslek said.
Cheslek thinks
In the semifinals,
Melissa Volmer had a kill to decide the first set for the Greyhounds.
Then after Black Hills took a 21-20 lead in the third set,
Cheslek led with 12 kills and seven blocks while