Senior night for North Callaway volleyball created moments of program's past and future.
Senior outside hitters Jenny Selby and Hannah Cundiff led a serving attack by an energized North Callaway team Tuesday against Wright City while freshman Natalie Shryock broke the school season block record with her four blocks Tuesday, giving her two more than the previous record of 35 held by Colleen Meffert, in North Callaway's four-set loss to the Lady Wildcats (25-21, 21-25, 17-25, 18-25).
Head coach Andrew Klein said he thinks North Callaway (3-18, 0-6 EMO) played the most energized he's seen all year in the first set as the two seniors contributed early on to a serving attack that saw them as the team service ace leaders for the night.
"It starts with the energy and having fans out here cheering and having our bench cheer," Klein said. "That changes everything on the court for our players. When it starts getting quiet in the room, it seems like the spotlight's on, but when there's people cheering, you're just playing volleyball."
The match began with an ace and ended with an ace for North Callaway. Between those two points, North Callaway was able to build a 7-1 lead to start the frame, which was also its biggest lead of the match. That lead looked to be evaporating early when Wright City (7-17-1, 2-5 EMO) won seven straight points to take an 8-7 lead.
The first set continued being one of alternating runs as North Callaway answered with a 6-0 run, with back-to-back aces in there, until the Lady Wildcats tied it at 13 with a 5-0 run. The Ladybirds won 12 of the final 20 points to win the first set.
Wright City won the first three points of the second set before North Callaway managed to take an 8-7 lead. A 5-0 Lady Wildcat run left North Callaway in a state of catchup the rest of the set as a 3-0 run near the end, led by Selby, to cut the lead from 24-18 to 24-21 wasn't enough for the Ladybirds.
Klein said he thought the girls didn't play with their heads down during the three losing sets as North Callaway has found themselves doing at times earlier in the season.
"They didn't give toward the end, which was a problem at the beginning of the season," he said. "We were kind of getting in our own heads."
Regardless, Wright City started better in the final two sets as the Lady Wildcats began the third and fourth sets with runs of 8-4 and 10-6 as North Callaway couldn't stabilize a large enough run to climb back into the sets. Whenever the Ladybirds did have something going, Wright City was able to place the ball in the perfect spot to split North Callaway players or cause the Ladybirds to have miscommunication.
The biggest thing now as North Callaway looks to its regular season finale today at Bunceton (1-16) and then districts against Bowling Green (9-13) on Thursday in Montgomery City, Klein said, is having the communication and always moving its feet, like the Ladybirds did in the first set.
A couple of players Klein saw display this at times were junior setter Ellie Pezold - the team's assists leader who always lays out and isn't afraid to "get a little dirty" - and sophomore setter Riley Blevins. Blevins had the "play of the game" in the fourth set when she made a touch pass over the net and then rushed to her spot to make a block - a prime example of being rewarded for staying in movement, Klein said.
"I think we're talented, but sometimes, when you're not in the right position, it doesn't matter how talented you are," Klein said. "It does take years, and I think we've made incredible strides in the not even full season that we've had. It's just being athlete, being able to read where people are hitting and being on our toes at all times."