After running through an early-season gauntlet to start the year, volleyball coach Piper Wright juggled her lineup heading into a home match with Marshfield Thursday. It paid off with a straight-set win, 25-21 25-15 — but not before another rough start for Republic, who found itself trailing early in the first set.
“We’d been beat three matches in a row, so it was time to change things up,” Wright says. “I was extremely unhappy with our communication at the start, so that’s what I told them. We just were not communicating with each other or working together as a team.”
After a time out, the Lady Tigers bounced back, reeling off several points in a row to take the lead, then putting the set away behind big hitter Brooke Stanfield. Stanfield led the team with seven kills, and also contributed five blocks, helping to turn the momentum.
“(Stanfield) and Mikayla (Botkin) connect really well together,” says Wright. “Any time we can get it to her, we try to. Luckily, we have a lot of good hitters who can support her, but if it’s working for her…we’re going to keep going to her.”
Botkin ended with 17 assists. Bella Drennan had six digs, and Eryn Russell contributed three service aces for the Lady Tigers.
Wright says returning to the win column was a big psychological step for her Lady Tigers.
“It’s huge. We play such a tough opening schedule — Helias and Glendale and Kickapoo – right at the beginning. When you take losses to those teams, you kind of have to keep in perspective that they’re really good teams, but at the same time, it can start wearing on you when you’re in the negative,” Wright says. “It was really important to get a win tonight for us.”
Republic improves to 2-4. They play in the Springfield Classic Tournament this weekend.
The JV and freshman teams both won, as well. The JV won 26-24 25-20, and the freshemen won 21-25 25-18 15-4.
