By Jeff Odom
The Wharton volleyball team sat together, stone-faced and focused on the task laid out before it at home Oct. 1.
While the Wildcats’ (16-0) largest test of the season was looming on the opposite end of the court, coach Eric Barber had one calm message — execute like they have all year.
Barber’s confidence was well placed, as Wharton knocked off Steinbrenner 25-15, 25-19, 21-25, 25-19.
“It was definitely a big test,” Barber said. “They have a great program at Steinbrenner, but I felt that we had played a couple of tough matches. … So I felt like we certainly weren’t untested, but certainly we want to continue to test ourselves against the highest caliber.”
The Warriors (12-7) were shorthanded before entering the gym, as senior outside hitter Madison Seuzeneau, who has 107 kills this season, did not play for undisclosed reasons.
Her void, along with the deafening noise from Wharton’s fans, proved too much for Steinbrenner, as the squad dropped its first sets to a Hillsborough county opponent this year.
The Wildcats fed off of the crowd’s energy right out of the gate, stopping Steinbrenner’s offensive attack and forcing their opponent to play catch up.
Led by the deadly swing of senior outside hitter Caci Andreychuk, Wharton prevented the Warriors from getting a lead in the first set.
“We had a lot of chemistry there, and I think our defense was on,” Andreychuk said. “We knew we had to come out there and play as a team to beat them.”
The second set was much more even early, but after a 4-0 run by the Warriors to make the score 16-15, the Wildcats stormed back to take 10 of the final 13 points to put Steinbrenner on the verge of being swept.
Then, for a short time, the Warriors woke up.
Sophomore middle hitter Lauren Heldt and junior outside hitter Rachel Mathison helped guide Steinbrenner to a 14-9 lead and closed the set by taking six of the last seven points.
“We’re not used to (a loud crowd), and we’re also not used to pressure games,” said first-year Warriors coach Laura Stegenga. “I would rather play a game like this over and over and over then play a game that we could easily win. They need to learn this pressure for the long term.”
Heldt said the poor start prevented her squad having any chance at momentum.
“The first and second set we came out slow, but we knew we had to pick it up,” Heldt said. “We just picked it up too late in that game, but we won’t do that next time and we won’t let it happen again.”
The Warriors were no match for Andreychuk in the fourth set, who finished with 33 kills and 16 digs. Her teammate, senior setter Ashton Stocker, used all of her 6-foot-1 height to record six blocks to fend off a late comeback attempt.
“It’s a really good accomplishment for our team, because we’ve been working really hard to be able to win a big game like this,” said Stocker, who also had 48 assists. “It helps our younger players that we have on the team have more confidence going into big games, and realize that we continue to get better and better every game.”
Barber echoed Stocker’s comments, and added the outcome could have been different without Andreychuk’s performance.
“I told her at the time that she’s been at this school, that’s the best I’ve ever seen her play,” Barber said. “All around hitting, frontrow, backrow, she definitely carried us offensively. It’s something I don’t necessarily want her to do, but tonight it worked.”
Wharton hosts Freedom Oct. 9, while the Warriors host district rival Gaiter Oct. 10. Both matches begin at 7:30 p.m.
