DAYTON — Since the beginning of the season, Janelle Manore has been telling her Tongue River Lady Eagles they don’t have to be at their best right now.
But she won’t be saying that much longer.
The Lady Eagles have only four games left before the playoffs, so it’s almost time for them to hit their full stride. With back-to-back statement wins, Manore thinks they’re getting close.
“It feels really good,” Manore, Tongue River’s head coach, said. “We want to be our best at the end of the season, and these last few weeks here, we’ve really come on strong. I’m hoping we’ll carry that momentum as we head into postseason play.”
The Lady Eagles beat the Sundance Lady Bulldogs 3-0 (25-15, 25-21, 25-22) Friday at Tongue River High School. They’ve now claimed their last six sets, including a 3-0 sweep of Big Horn last weekend.
“The result was amazing,” senior defensive specialist Katy Kalasinsky said. “It couldn’t have happened without our team being ecstatic and working off every point and not getting down when we’d lose one. We just kept up the energy and celebrated every point.”
Every point.
That’s the approach Manore has emphasized to her players. She preaches not getting ahead of themselves by worrying about the future or the end results. She wants them to grind through the current moment.
They’ve listened, too. The tight late-set scores against Sundance Friday didn’t bother them, as they closed out all three.
“I definitely feel like the fact that we’ve been in that situation a lot of times has helped us become more confident,” Kalasinsky said. “It also conditions us to stay positive throughout the play instead of getting down.”
With eight seniors, Tongue River is an experienced team. But the starting lineup also includes a freshman, a sophomore and a junior who have built trust throughout the year. Manore attributes much of the Lady Eagles’ success the last two matches to that trust and to communication.
“They trust each other at this point, and they’re all willing to support each other regardless,” Manore said. “That’s a huge thing in volleyball — that foundation of trust. The last few weeks, we’ve really built that, and we’ve had these two big wins. They’ve been big confidence boosters for us. Even though we’ve known we’re capable of playing at this level, to actually go out and see that has been huge.”
The Lady Eagles haven’t allowed themselves to think much of the playoffs yet, though.
They play at Riverside at 2 p.m. Saturday, and it’s all about that match. Then, they’ll shift their attention to next Thursday’s Senior Night contest against Moorcroft and so on.
“Even when we go into the postseason, we’ll stay focused on the fact that it’s just another game,” Manore said. “You can’t make any game more important than any other game. You can’t put that unnecessary pressure on yourself.”
When that first postseason game arrives, the only thing the Lady Eagles will do is hope to be at their best.
"correct" - Google News
October 16, 2021 at 05:00PM
https://ift.tt/3lM3Aij
Tongue River volleyball starting to hit stride at correct time - The Sheridan Press
"correct" - Google News
https://ift.tt/3d10rUK
https://ift.tt/35qAk7d
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Tongue River volleyball starting to hit stride at correct time - The Sheridan Press"
Post a Comment