Pana spoils Vandals’ senior night; Vandalia hosting regional

By Editor | October 27, 2010 |

Playing for the rights to the South Central Conference championship, Vandalia and Pana battled to the bitter end last Thursday, with Pana notching a 25-19, 27-25 victory to spoil the Vandals’ senior night.

Caught up in the pregame festivities – during which the team honored its six senior members – Vandalia was sluggish at the start of the match, quickly falling behind 9-3.

“I think it was us being nervous coming out with senior night,” said coach Allison Smith. “It’s typical human nature.”

Soon after, though, senior Amy Walton gave the Vandals a boost, serving three straight points to close the gap to 11-8.

After hovering between three and four points behind, another senior – this time Ellie Ehrat – took her turn at the service line in hopes of moving the Vandals ahead.

She would move the team within two, but that was as close as Vandalia would get before Pana closed out the set, 25-19.

In the second set, the Vandals came out with more intensity, performing well in all facets of the game to hold a lead or tie until the 35th point of the match.

“I thought, tonight, we executed to the T,” Smith said. “There were a few passes we had trouble with, but I thought we played with more heart and desire than Pana did. But unfortunately, we came up short.”

After falling behind, senior Holly Goldsmith made a forearm kill from her knees, and Sierah Ruffner followed that up with powerful spike to tie the set at 19.

Over the next 10 points, the Vandals could not get ahead, tying the Panthers three times before regaining a lead.

Senior Whitney Schaal faced the biggest pressure situation of the night, though, when she took over the serve with the team trailing 24-23. Even the slightest miscue would send the seniors away without a win, but she responded by bringing the Vandals ahead 25-24 with the help of a Goldsmith kill.

But the lead would not last as Pana took advantage of Vandalia being called in the net and a service ace to take the set, 27-25.

Many tears flowed from the seniors as they joined their teammates in a huddle by the Vandalia bench, but they do have at least one more chance to bring joy to a home crowd.

On Thursday, the second-seeded Vandals will face No. 3 Staunton in the Vandalia Regional Tournament at 6:30 p.m.

“They have a really, really, really great chance at the regional (this) week, and that hasn’t been (won) in 25 years,” Smith said.

She has talked all season about the team needing to become sound in every area of the game in order to be successful. Coming off a game in which the team did that, Smith believes the team should be prepared for that match.

“Fundamentally, I would say yes,” she said. “We have a few little things we’re working on.

“We’re right there, but we need to put it all together.”

Staunton is a challenging team, though. Having finished the season at 24-4 with two tournament victories, the Bulldogs are led by five seniors and were regional champions last season.

If the Vandals win, they will face either No. 1 Carlyle, No. 4 Gillespie or No. 5 Greenville for the regional championship on Saturday, with the winner of that game advancing to the Nashville Sectional.

Thursday, Oct. 21
vs. Pana
Set 1: PHS 25, VHS 19
Set 2: PHS 27, VHS 25
Kills – Goldsmith, 9; Ruffner, 3; Taylor Parrish, 1; Austyn Krueger, 1; Haley Wollerman, 1; Schaal, 1; Walton, 1.
Service Aces – Parrish, 3; Schaal, 2; Wollerman, 1; Krueger, 1.
Blocks – Goldsmith, 2; Ruffner, 2.
Assists – Wollerman, 11; Parrish, 3; Megan Shreve, 1.
Digs – Schaal, 4; Walton, 3; Parrish, 2; Krueger, 1; Ehrat, 1.

Tuesday, Oct. 19
vs. Marquette Catholic
Set 1: VHS 25, MCHS 13
Set 2: VHS 25, MCHS 16
Kills – Goldsmith, 5; Krueger, 3; Wollerman, 2; Parrish, 2; Ruffner, 1; Walton, 1.
Service Aces – Wollerman, 4; Amber Bruno, 2.
Blocks – Goldsmith, 1; Shreve, 1.
Assists – Wollerman, 15.
Digs – Schaal, 2.
JV – Vandalia won, 25-16, 25-13.
Freshmen – Vandalia won, 25-17, 25-16.