Consistent serving is the first step to team success on the volleyball court. That's always been a focus of the Carey School Panthers volleyball program directed by sixth-year head coach Kathy Whitworth.
This year's Carey squad (2-2, 1-2 league) showed why serving is so important during a tight Northside Conference match against the Magic Valley Christian Conquerors Thursday on the Panther hardwoods.
Carey won its first league match of the season 25-18, 25-14, 23-25, 19-25, 15-7. But the Conquerors led by senior middle blocker Kristina Reitsma (17 kills, 3 blocks) put up a good fight that put Carey to a test.
The home team's most consistent server, Carey senior Jessica Parke, blew the Conquerors off the floor with 11 straight successful serves for a 14-6 lead during the 25-18 Panther first-game victory. Four kills by sophomore Darby Northcott helped.
Still struggling to put the ball in play and get its own serving house in order, Magic Valley Christian dropped the second game 25-14 when Carey senior Taylor Whitby picked up the serving torch and reeled off eight consecutive winners to break open a 10-10 nailbiter.
But Carey couldn't score at all on Parke's serve in the second, third and fourth games—and the loss of concentration finally caught up with the Panthers. Magic Valley Christian took over the net, Reitsma and sophomore middle blocker Dineka Ringling (3 blocks) doing damage.
It came down to a decisive fifth game. Carey senior Jenni Murphy served five winners for a 6-1 Panther lead. The Conquerors battled back to 8-7, until an outstanding dig by Carey senior Amy Ellsworth netted a point and sent Parke to the stripe.
Parke ripped off six consecutive winners helped by an Ellsworth tip and a Murphy kill to seal the win.
Kill leaders for Carey were Murphy 12 and sophomore Micaela Adamson 11. Winning serves came from Parke (17, 3 aces), Whitby (12, 3 aces), Murphy (10, 4 aces) and Adamson (10, 4 aces). Jordan Edwards was the Conquerors serving leader with 12 winners.
Carey improved its home record to 2-1. On Aug. 27 in their home debut, the Panthers defeated Mackay 25-22, 13-25, 15-11 and dropped a Northside decision to Dietrich by scores of 23-25, 25-17, 25-18, 25-19.
Cutthroat thinclads debut on home course today
The Community School cross country running teams made some school history last fall when they captured the Fourth District 2A/1A championships at Albion and qualified girls' and boys' teams for the State 2A meet for the first time.
Coach Rick Kapala along with assistant coaches Chris Mallory and Nicole DeYong have welcomed an eager group of runners who want to take it another step and make some history of their own. And their 2009 season is ready to begin.
The Cutthroats and Wood River High School will host the annual Wood River Invitational meet today, Wednesday, Sept. 9 starting at 4 p.m. (junior varsity) on a two-lap 3.1-mile course at Sagewillow Farms, Elkhorn at Sun Valley. Bigger 4A schools and smaller 2A schools will attend.
Kapala said the Cutthroats have three returning girls who can run consistently with some of the better thinclads in the area. They are junior Emily Williams (4th district, 38th state in 2008), sophomore Morgan Atkinson (10th district, 41st state) and junior Zana Davey (72nd state).
The coaches are pleased to have enough girls to fill a five-runner girls' team. Others include sophomore Katie Dumke (78th state), freshman Sofia DeWolfe and junior Zoey Olbum.
Senior Torin Tucker (8th district, 37th state) is the lone returning runner among the district champ Cutthroat boys.
When freshman Zach Lindahl and senior Tyler Davis can break away from their responsibilities on the soccer team, they'll combine with Tucker to give the Fish "three guys who can push it, front-of-the-pack runners," said Kapala.
Newcomers include sophomore Gray Reidinger and senior Eric Griffith.
"Our goal is to be running well by the second and third week of October," said Kapala. He added he was encouraged that the Sun Valley middle school running program seems ready to funnel talent to the independent school's varsity.
In addition to today's meet at Sagewillow Farms, Kapala said the Cutthroats will host another home meet Thursday, Oct. 8. The district run is Oct. 21 at Gooding Golf Course, and the State 2A meet is Saturday, Oct. 31 in northern Idaho.
