On Thursday, Aug. 29, the Millard West varsity volleyball team started their season with a top-five showdown at home against the Westside Warriors.
The Wildcats finished their 23-24 season with a 21-13 record. The Warriors had a slightly better season than the Cats with a 26-11 record and a State Playoffs appearance. These two teams played against each other last year where the Warriors took care of business in both games winning and 3-1. The coaches’ polls had Millard West ranked fourth and Westside second going into the season opener.
“Being a senior does bring on different pressures because it is my last year and naturally I want it to be the best one yet,” senior Sierra Pokharel said. “I constantly have to check my attitude, energy, and effort in games and practice because I know my teammates feed off of what I give them. All this creates tremendous pressure on top of trying to perform my best and win. But, I have been a leader and a captain on this team for a few years now so I have learned through experience and been taught how to deal with these added pressures.”
The Warriors started the game off strong following a few kills by senior Ashlyn Paymal. After the slow start Gretna East transfer senior Hayden Hart helped keep the Wildcats within striking distance to slowly pull away late to win set one 25-19. The Cats started the second set hot with four straight kills by senior Halle Kerkman, which would lead to an early 8-3 advantage over the Warriors. After the great start by Kerkman and the Cats, Westside started gaining momentum and found a way to gain the lead late to win set two 25-23.
“I really want to try to break the record of the most kills in a single game,” Kerkman said. “That is one of my main goals this season. Some strategies that help me out are when my back-row defenders call out open shots for me to hit.”
Both teams started set three with Paymal getting three kills and an ace for and Junior Taya Thaden getting herself two kills. Halfway through the score was 15-14 in favor of Westside. The Warriors stretched out the lead late and won the set 25-19 and never played from behind in the whole set. The fourth set put the Wildcats on the chopping block as Westside was one win away from sealing the game in four sets. The beginning of set three and four were pretty similar but the cats flipped the script and got a seven point lead at the halfway point. Senior Hayden Hart was playing in her first game as a wildcat and showed some power in the fourth set with four kills to help win set for in a close finish 25-23.
“Before the game, I was calm and collected because my teammates and I pray before every single game to clear our minds of anything that might distract us from what is going on in the present moment,” Hart said. ”God has always been there for me when I needed him and last night I could feel every single emotion from when I was anxious, stressed and happy. A couple of hours before the game I went home and meditated and took some breaths for about 30 minutes and this has always helped me calm down before a big match, especially for my first game at Millard West last night. During the game I talk to myself a lot, I mainly say to myself “Be present” and “Be happy” because when there are so many things rushing through my mind I think of something so simple to ease my thoughts.”
The Cats kept set five close, but were unable to gain the lead and lost 15-13. Despite losing the opening game at home, Kerkman was able to rack up 20 kills throughout the game. The Wildcats showed that they will be able to hang with any team that they play this season as they continue their fight to win a state title.
