By Jeff Odom
The Wharton volleyball team’s dreams of claiming the program’s first district championship since 1999 were crushed by Plant Oct. 25 19-25, 12-25, 28-26, 25-14, 15-13.
The No. 1 seeded Wildcats (25-2) looked destined to take the Class 8A-District 7 title after jumping out to a 2-0 lead, but the Panthers (15-10) held off elimination with an emotional third set victory.
Everything went downhill for Wharton after that.
“We had a couple plays to end it, but the ball didn’t find the floor and it ended up being an emotional swing in the (third) game,” said Wharton coach Eric Barber. “It was hard to get it back, so there wasn’t a whole lot left in the tank emotionally, but they still fought hard.”
Plant came out of the gate firing on all cylinders until Wharton seniors Caci Andreychuk (16 kills) and Ashton Stocker (30 assists, 10 kills, six blocks) turned a three-point deficit into a four-point lead with their presence on the front and back rows midway through the opening set.
Stocker’s late block and hard kill gave the Wildcats a lead they would not surrender.
In the second, Plant led only once by one point to open the frame. Wildcats freshman libero Chanelle Hargreaves (41 digs) was a defensive force, stopping almost every ball that came in her direction to help her squad take nine of the last 10 points.
Then came the third set.
Wharton started off trailing 5-1, but got back into its groove with streaky offensive play. Middle hitters Avery Day (10 kills, six blocks) and Lindsey Schiable (seven kills, six blocks), along with Stocker, gave the Wildcats a four-point advantage before the Panthers stormed back to score 16 of 19 near the end of the set.
“I just think that we stopped playing our game,” Stocker said. “We just let up, and you can’t let up with a good team like Plant. I think that we tried to stay positive, but it’s hard to bounce back. They had the momentum.”
The Wildcats would hang with the Panthers, even taking a 26-25 lead. However, Plant’s Ashley Sibson found an opening in Wharton’s defense to tie it. And after an error put them up by one, the Panthers sealed it with a thunderous kill from Ashley Cozart.
“We fought back and forth, back and forth,” Barber said. “In the end, we just didn’t make as many plays as they did.”
Wharton dropped the fourth set without leading once, but fought much harder in the fifth.
Stocker and Day combined for five kills, including two that tied the fifth set late, but Plant capitalized on a ball that took an odd bounce off of the roof and Wildcats error to complete the comeback.
“I really, really wanted this, and it’s been what we’ve been working for all season,” Day said. “We just handed it to them, and that’s not what should have happened. We should have kept going and we should have won that third set.”
While he was disappointed at the outcome, Barber was quick to remind his players they are still in the playoffs for the first time since 2006.
“I just told them that our season isn’t defined by this one game,” Barber said. “Our seniors, they’ve never made it this far. So, we’re grateful for the season that we had and we’re thankful that we have another game to play.”
In the semifinals, Wharton was put on the brink of elimination against tournament host Durant before rallying from its own 2-0 deficit to knock off the Cougars 18-25, 12-25, 25-19, 25-21, 15-9 Oct. 24 to earn a spot in the postseason.
Barber said in order to make a run, his team will have to play better across the board.
“We have to work on consistency,” Barber said. “(We have to) be able to play consistent defense throughout a match when we’re playing a tough opponent, something that’s been up and down the last couple of matches. We just need to have that consistency in regionals that we’ve had all season.”
The Wildcats travel to Palm Harbor University for the regional quarterfinals Oct. 30 at 7 p.m.
