Advertisement
The Ramblers had everything working to open against Hayfield in a 25-17 win, led by Whitney Wisecup’s four kills and three aces.
 |
Cotter's Chelsea Cierzan, left, and Sara Grandy attempt a block Tuesday during their match against Hayfield in Winona. (photo by Katie Derus/Winona Daily News) |
That, however, was not a sign of things to come. The Vikings followed with a statement in Game 2, winning 25-6 before sealing the match with
25-13 and 25-14 victories.
The loss dropped the Ramblers to
0-11 overall and 0-9 in the Hiawatha Valley League, but they’re not getting down on themselves.
“We don’t judge how good we are by wins and losses,” senior Chelsea Cierzan said, “we judge how we are by how much we improve.”
Cotter came out on a mission in the opener, getting up 6-1 and then 12-4 and the eventual win, snapping a 20-game losing streak — including six matches in a row where it lost 3-0.
Cotter’s last win in a match came in the second game against La Crescent on Sept. 8. Since, it had lost 20 games in a row before the Hayfield opener.
“We just need to be more consistent and learn how to win,” Cotter coach Nick Whaley said. “They come to work in practice and games. You couldn’t tell we were 0-11 by that.”
Cotter couldn’t do much of anything in the second game, as Hayfield (8-7,
5-4) never let up.
“I think they made some adjustments with their lineup in the second game, and I did not (readjust) in Game 3,” Whaley said. “That was probably a lineup issue.
“Also, I think the game got a little fast on us and we weren’t able to slow it down. We just have to learn how to do that.”
After the first game, Hayfield’s
6-foot-1 outside hitter, Kiley Severson, came to life on both sides of the net. The junior finished with 16 kills and three blocks. She had four kills in the opener.
“She’s a great player, and we did not block well,” Whaley said. “Defensively, we just did not put up a block, while Hayfield blocked very well. We had great passes and were hitting — Whitey and Micaela (Trainor) were hitting. They just blocked us very well.”
In the third and fourth games, Cotter gave up little runs and couldn’t recover. It was 12-9 Cotter in Game 3 when Severson took over serve and put Hayfield up 15-12, including three-consecutive aces. Hayfield finished on a 16-3 run.
The final game was very similar, but the run came early. Hayfield’s Sam Serratore took the service line up 1-0 and served 10 times in row, giving her team a 10-0 lead, including aces on four out of five serves.
“We didn’t adjust to the serve-receive very well,” Whaley said. “We just got too deep.”
Cotter got within 14-9, but that was as close as it got.
Wisecup ended with 15 digs, seven kills and seven aces. Sara Grandy had 15 digs and Cierzan had 18 assists for Cotter.
Molly Streightiff had 34 assists and seven kills for Hayfield.
