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Some coaches believe that the toughest jump to make in sports is not going from bad to good, but rather going from good to great. They’ll tell you that becoming an elite team is the toughest transition of all to make.
For the Clay Eagles volleyball team, that is the challenge they face.
Despite making some strides this season, the Eagles fell in the sectional semifinal to Anthony Wayne, losing 23-25, 17-25 and 23-25. Anthony Wayne advanced to the district semifinals before losing to Findlay.
The Eagles fared well in the regular season, finishing fourth in the City League, going 14-7 overall and 7-3 in the conference, advancing to the conference tournament before falling to St. Ursula 12-25, 12-25 and 8-25. (Only the top four teams in the conference qualify for the tournament.)
Last season the Eagles finished with a nearly identical record, going 14-8.
Head coach Tracy Donnelly, now in her second season with the team, had this to say about the team’s performance.
“We have made some key improvements, but haven’t seen the benefits yet. We’ll need some more time.”
This year, the Eagles were led by senior middle hitter Alexis Morrison, who had led 132 kills to lead the team, a 39% kill percentage and 16 solo blocks and 18 assist blocks while fellow senior middle fielder Torrie Reichert had 109 kills, 20 solo blocks and 21 assist blocks to go with an 86% attack percentage.
Kristen Kayser, a junior setter and outside hitter, had the best serving percentage (95%) to go with 46 aces, 100 kills, a 90% attack percentage, a 97% passing percentage and 213 digs and 220 assists. Junior libero Kim Crawford fared had a good season as well, serving at a 90% clip to go with 62 aces, 232 digs and a 98% passing percentage.
Kayser and Crawford will be the top returning players for next year’s team.
One of the highlights came mid-season, albeit in a loss, when the Eagles fell 3-2 to Central Catholic on the road.
Clay won the first set 25-21, dropped the second 12-25 and won the third 26-24 before losing 20-25 and 8-25 in the final two sets, respectively.
“If we had won that game, it could’ve changed the season,” said Donnelly. “It was the game of the year for us.”
When looking ahead to next season, Donnelly said, “In the middle, we’re going to be very young. We have a lot of outside hitters, we just have to figure out where to put them and see who’s going to step up to the plate and win the job.”
Next season, Clay, Central Catholic, Notre Dame, St. Ursula and Whitmer will begin play in the Three Rivers Athletic Conference where they will join Findlay, Fremont Ross and Lima Senior, who are all leaving the Greater Buckeye Conference.
If Clay is to become an elite team, they must find a way to win the big games and compete with the likes of powerhouse programs Notre Dame and St. Ursula. In the final Division I State Poll, St. Ursula, who won a state title in 2004, was ranked second, and Notre Dame was 14th.
“We want to find a way to get over the hump,” Donnelly said. “We were competitive against some very good teams. We’re just looking for that extra oomph to get us over the top. With hard work, no excuses and support from everyone, we, too, can be a great program again.”
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