With the boisterous ‘Blue Crew’ student section behind them, the Wharton Wildcats outlasted the warriors 25-15, 25-19, 21-25, 25-19. It was the first warrior loss in Hillsborough County.
Caci Andreychuk was named player of the match with 33 kills and only 10 attacking errors for Wharton.
Warrior senior Madison Seuzeneau was inactive for the match for undisclosed reasons; the normal full rotation starter watched the whole match from the stands with no contact with her teammates. In Seuzeneau’s place was sophomore Avery Bradshaw, who normally starts but doesn’t usually play the full rotation of back line.
Bradshaw (9 kills, 5 attacking errors, 10 digs, 4 digging errors, 12 service returns, 0 returning errors) was a “standout performer” according to head coach Laura Stegenga.The other two explicitly named were junior Rachel Mathison (11 kills, 3 attacking errors, 10 digs, 8 digging errors) and senior libero Natalia Campos (15 digs, 8 digging errors, 14 service returns, 6 returning errors). Sophomore Lauren Heldt also excelled with a season-high five blocks, eight kills with only four attacking errors.
“We had trouble taking the heat. (The team) is not used to playing high intensity games together, I’d rather play this game over and over and over again to help them improve,” said Stegenga.
In the third set the lady warriors flipped the script and came on late to keep the match alive past the nine o’clock hour.
“We hit in the court. We hit in. Its that basic, the passing could not have been more consistent tonight and we choked on the ball.” said Stegenga
Steinbrenner-15-19-25-19
Wharton-25-25-21-25
Zealand Shannon / Sports Editor
Even though we lost the girls played amazing and will beat them next time .
Go warriors !
This is a bummer. Although we lost I think the girls still played great. Our volleyball team is awesome!