CLARE
“It is hard to beat a team three times in a row.”
Awell known cliche in the sports world, that many times, proves to be true.
Unfortunately, that cliche came to fruition once again last Wednesday night in Clare, as the Gladwin volleyball team took on Clare in their third match-up of the season.
The G’s had emerged victorious in the squads’ previous two meetings, both full of dramatics, as each match went to heart-stopping fifth sets. More of the same was expected on Wednesday, as a chance to compete for a district title was on the line.
In the first set, Clare came out scalding hot, seemingly doing everything right, and controlling every aspect of the game. Gladwin coach Tony Wetmore said that “From the start of the match it was evident that Clare was playing with a chip on their shoulder”, and the Pioneers used that extra motivation, paired with some nervous and uncomfortable play by Gladwin to run away with the first set, 25-16.
Gladwin looked more like their Jack Pine Champion selves in set two, gutting out a close 26-24 victory in the set, reminiscent of the two previous matches, as The G’s jumped ahead early at 12-6, only to see Clare surge back and tie the set at 22, and even briefly take the lead at 24-23, before a massive kill by Erin Breault kept the G’s alive, and gave them the momentum to win the set.
Early in the third set, Gladwin looked to have gotten a spark from their win in the previous set, as they would grab an early 6-1 lead. However, Clare would channel that chip on their shoulder once again, and would gradually fight their way back with the help of some incredible defensive play, tying the score at 17, before gaining a lead that they would not give up to take the set 25-22.
Gladwin needed a big response in set four to keep their season alive, and force another winner take all fifth set, but Clare was motivated for revenge, and that is exactly what they would get. The Pioneers took a quick lead, and despite allowing Gladwin to come back and even take a lead of their own at 16-15, would quickly regain the advantage all the way to finish, winning the set and match 25-19.
The loss brought a disappointing end to a stellar campaign for the Lady G’s. Coach Wetmore noted some usual strengths becoming weaknesses on Wednesday night, saying, “Across the board, we did not perform up to our potential, and that is the frustrating part of the loss. We made a lot of serve receive errors, and we had been serve receiving pretty well to really well this season, and we just made numerous serve receive mis-judgments. We normally frustrate teams with our block, but we were unable to turn the ball in bounds. We normally run a really aggressive offense with lots of attacks, but we couldn’t convert as many, and gave Clare more free balls than we received.”
This paired with Clare playing some “inspired and scrappy volleyball all night” contributed to a premature exit for Gladwin in what was a season that looked to last a little longer after the regular season success. Wetmore echoed that sentiment, saying “Everyone but one team ends up losing at the end of their season, but I was not expecting to lose on Wednesday night. The thing that hurts is that we didn’t play anywhere near our potential. As a coach, you go back and re-live the whole event and start to wonder what you could have done differently to change the outcome, I’ll be dwelling on this one for a while. We had players that were just trying their best to play up, and they weren’t, and you could see the frustration on their faces, and they couldn’t figure out why they were making mistakes.”
Leading the night statistically for the G’s in her final game was Erin Breault who finished her incredibly successful career with 20 kills. Raegan Parrett and Lizzie Haines also contributed to the Gladwin attack with six and five kills respectively. Seniors Delaney Reynolds and Delaney Conley also finished their careers well, as Reynolds had 26 assists, and Conley had five aces.
Despite the loss, the sheer success of Gladwin volleyball this season should not be discounted, starting with their first conference championship in 44 years. The G’s were also led all season by incredible individual performances, specifically by Erin Breault and Delaney Reynolds, each three year varsity stalwarts that have etched their names into the Gladwin history books.
Breault was a force at the net all season, leading Gladwin in kills nearly every game, putting her name as the standard for not only kills in a season, but also in a career, with 208 on the season, and 444 in her career. Reynolds was key in making the Gladwin attack as successful as it was, consistently setting up Breault, Parrett, Haines and Ava Gary to break her own record of 346 assists with 380, along with breaking the career record by a significant margin, with a whopping 910. These two were part of a senior group consisting of seven individuals who will go down in history as one of the more successful groups in Gladwin history, and have no doubt set the precedent for success for the future.
Gladwin finishes the season with an impressive 29-10-1 record. Even though losing seven seniors is a significant hit, the aforementioned future is still bright, as three quarters of vaunted Gladwin front row attack return, in Parrett, Haines, and Gary, along with juniors Sami Mussleman, Sadie Schuler, and Chloe Lawrason also primed to fill the roles being lost. The JV and Freshman teams also both finished well over .500, and will send multiple players to the varsity squad who will be able to contribute. Gladwin Volleyball is no doubt on an upward trajectory, and if this season was any indication, they will be a blast to watch for years to come.