VOLLEYBALL

Spikes, streaks and broken records blend for hot volleyball season
December 22 , 2004

What was the hottest ticket in town this fall?

Think about it. What was out there that offered rock-solid entertainment, provided excitement, drama, suspense, and a spectacular display of human talents and abilities?

The clock is ticking. The Jeopardy theme is playing. Buzzzz! Time’s up, Skippy.

I’ll tell you what was the hottest ticket in town. It was, hands down, the UVa-Wise volleyball team. It was a show put on by group of talented young women who now have a championship banner – the first one in the program’s existence –  hanging from their gym’s rafters. That was the hottest ticket for your hard-earned disposable income.

Never mind, however, that the team doesn’t even sell tickets to its games. (That’s right. The best sports show in Wise is F-R-E-E with a capital “F”, baby.) The Lady Cavs put on a thriller of a show and made no money from it.

A missed opportunity? Yeah, maybe. But we, the fans, are the great recipients here and we’re thankful. Thankful and proud that this team full of talent, spunk and grit represented our school all the way to the semifinals of the Region XII postseason tournament.

And you know, I think we did a good job at the matches of showing our gratitude to these super-flying, ball-spiking, monster-digging Greear Gym goddesses.

Remember the King match? What a crowd?

Going into that match, the Lady Cavs had never defeated King – never. However, this time around we all knew something was going to be different about this match, and we were right.

Greear Gymnasium was packed, rowdy and probably a little intimidating to the visitors on that early October night. UVa-Wise stormed out against the Lady Tornado, won the first two games and were nearing victory in the third and final game when a few of the home fans raised brooms to signify a match sweep. One excited fan even rode his broom the length of the gymnasium floor, delighting the spectators.

Man, you just don’t see that type of behavior at a volleyball match. But then again, these Lady Cavs were a special group that inspired fans and the community to go a little gaga each time the team’s sneakers hit the gym floor.

That win over King not only was the team’s first against the rival school, but it also continued a little streak – a little streak of wins that ran up to 15 matches, and get this, 40 games.

The Lady Cavs played 40 games without losing one. How many times have you done something successfully 40 straight times? Tying your shoe doesn’t count. We’re talking about enduring strenuous game pressure and winning against the odds, against some pretty tough volleyball teams.

When the 40-game streak finally ended, head coach Kim Moore said it was a bit of a relief and it was like “getting a monkey off our backs.” Can imagine how many less-fortunate volleyball teams would love to have had that monkey settle on their backs – or maybe, for a while, just take a seat in their gyms?

The Lady Cavaliers finally saw their match winning streak end as well, but went on to finish the season with a 24-6 record in what seemed to be a charmed season. Those 24 wins are – yep, you guessed it – a new school record for the most Ws in a season, a school record the team now has eclipsed in each of the past three years.

And it’s no coincidence that Moore has been the coach of this squad for the past three seasons. Hired straight out of her senior season playing for the Lady Cavs, the team’s former setter brought into to her new sideline gig the same game knowledge and savvy that she used as a player. “She is the coach on the court,” is how Moore’s senior-year coach, Wayne Leftwich, once described her.

Moore, however, quickly diverts attention away from herself when asked about her team’s success. To her, it’s all about her players, particularly the seniors.

Those seniors, Jessica Cain, Kendall Rainey, Kari Sparks and Sara Stanley were the spark plugs that kept the engine roaring. Cain, a four-year starter, and Stanley kept the opposition fearful with their array of power kills and killer blocks.

Rainey played like the Magic Johnson of volleyball with her slick assists, and Sparks, the conference’s defensive specialist of the year for the second season in a row, seemed to be a magician herself, digging out of the air what often looked to be unreachable volleys.

“This year’s seniors have set a standard for what I want the program to become,” Coach K said. “They have started a new tradition here and I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to coach them.”

Those seniors had great support from their underclassmen teammates. Newcomers Natasha Viers and Evelyn Woods, the conference’s freshman of the year, often cranked out spikes that were faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a…. wait, that line has already been used, but you get the point.

The Lady Cavaliers also received spectacular performances from juniors Kellie Burke and Nikki Jessee and sophomores Davina Dishner, Kate Daub and Stacey Ringhoffer. Freshmen Cara Hamilton and Whittney Lane also played significant roles.

Volleyball season for these Lady Cavs eventually ended in late November with a loss in the Region XII semifinals to a tough Indiana University Southeast squad. It was the second consecutive year UVa-Wise had advanced to the semis in the regional tournament, a mark in the season that now has become the next hurdle for the Cavaliers to jump in the years to come.

The underclassmen – those juniors, sophomores and freshmen who helped make this season’s team the most successful in the program’s history – will be charged with the responsibility of clearing that next hurdle and achieving the lofty standard they helped established in 2004.

Copyright UVa-Wise Athletics 2004