Earlham Echo

October 8, 2024

It may not have been their best volleyball of the season, but the Cardinals toughed out a 5-set match on October 1 on the road against West Central, winning 3-2 (25-16, 18-25, 25-14, 23-25, 15-2). Perhaps a 3-set win over a 4-win team would have been preferable, but the Cardinals locked in and played well in the clutch to get the victory.

“We’ve been struggling for the last few games,” said Kenna Harskamp, “so I think that was good to show our grit and show what we can do.”

At their best against the Wildcats, the Cardinals looked dominant, playing fast, clean, and aggressive. At their worst—when momentum swung away from them—they were hesitant and looked to lack confidence. Managing the highs and lows in a contest is critical to any team in any sport. The ‘downers’ in the match against West Central affected the Cards adversely—as they have a few times in other matches this season—so the Cards know they’ll have to fix that as the season goes on.

“After serve receive if we shank a pass or something, we try to get in and talk about what we can do different,” said Harskamp. “We try to keep our energy up. And the bench helps a lot. A lot of the freshmen that come in have a lot of energy, which is good. I think sometimes it looks like we don’t want to be out there, which I know isn’t true. But sometimes our body language shows that we don’t want to be there, but I know we all do.”

Kenady Ridout added, “When we get down, sometimes it’s hard to get out of that. So, we come together and talk about it like, ‘Hey you’re good. You got this. Nothing to worry about.’”

The 1^st set was relatively stress free for the Cardinals. Piper Koberg got Earlham off to a good start with some excellent serves early on. She had a solid block for a point later to give the Cards a 20-12 lead. Ally Presler got a kill to get the Cards to 24, then they won the set when the Wildcats hit a ball out.

Any momentum the Cards had went out the window at the start of the 2^nd set when the Wildcats jumped out to a 7-1 lead, then 10-2. The Cards played a little better after that, but they couldn’t recover enough to get all the way back. Down 16-9, the Cardinals went on a 5-2 run that included a hard kill by Piper, an ace by Ridout, a combined block by Piper and Presler, and a kill by Harskamp to make the score, 18-14. After they traded the next 4 points with the Wildcats, the score was 20-16, but West Central finished the set on a 5-2 run.

The Cards were better in the 3^rd set, but to the Wildcats’ credit, they played well and kept the score close. The Cardinals went up 11-9 on a big kill by Ridout. They won the next point after a long rally and mad scramble highlighted by a diving save by Harskamp when she hit the ball with the back of her hand. The Cards pushed the lead to 20-13 on a run that featured a push to a deep corner by Ava Harris, a kill by Ridout, a push by Harskamp, a block and a kill by Piper, and a hard serve by Ridout that the Wildcats couldn’t handle. After Harskamp and Ridout got kills, Piper scored with an ace, then she landed a monster kill to get the Cards to 24. Presler’s kill closed out the set.

The Cardinals dug another hole for themselves by getting off to another tough start in the 4^th set. They trailed, 7-3, then, 13-5. The set was entertaining, with several long, athletic rallies—and the Cards closed the gap. After a terrific block by Piper, Ridout finished a rally with a kill, and the Cards trailed, 19-18. Two points later, Eden Forcht landed a hard spike, but the Cards were still behind, 20-19. Ridout, Presler, and Piper got kills down the stretch, but the Wildcats held on to win the set.

The ‘confident’ Cards returned in the 5^th set and they blitzed the Wildcats quickly to close out the match. Ridout’s hitting improved as the match wore on—and she was really feeling it by the 5^th set. The Cards fed her again and again and she was nearly unstoppable.

“It was adrenaline or something. I don’t know,” said the senior. “It just started going. I had that mentality of ‘I gotta get it down. I gotta get it down.’”