Published: Oct. 29, 2013
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News Sports Editor
West Bend East volleyball wasn’t playing its best.
Coach Colleen Hasse gave them a reality check about it.
In the midst of an early match battle with rival West Bend
West in a WIAA Division 1 regional final Saturday in West Bend, Hasse had seen
enough. She called a timeout and let her team know how unhappy she was.
Her yelling could be heard throughout the fieldhouse, her
face a bright red.
“My heart rate probably went a little too high,” Hasse said.
“I was so frustrated because these girls are really good, but they allow teams
to get out on them. They were making the match harder than it needed to be.”
It was the only timeout Hasse used the rest of the match as
East went on to sweep West in three sets, 25-20, 25-14, 25-17, to claim the
regional title and advance to the sectional semifinal.
East (39-4) has advanced to the sectional each season since
at least 2006.
West’s season ended with the loss and finished with a 22-22
record.
“Our motto was go big or go home,” West coach Alison Tanking
said.
“They played really well,” she added. “They played really
hard. They gave it all they got.”
The start of the match wasn’t anywhere near what East did
against West on Oct. 15.
East started that match with leads of 3-0, 6-1 and 9-2. On
Saturday, West got the jump, leading 4-2 early in the first set and led for
most of it.
The last straw for Hasse was an attack by Lexie Uselding
that went out of bounds to give the Spartans a 17-16 lead.
“She was trying to do something fancy,” Hasse said.
“From a coaching aspect, it’s the mental,” she added. “We’ve
seen them twice; we beat them twice. How do we get kids fired up to play their
game? Well, you make the coach mad.”
After the timeout, the Suns went on a 9-3 run and won the
set. From there it was all East.
“I always tell the girls to keep it clean, keep it
fundamental, I’m not looking for anything fancy,” Hasse said.
“Yeah, I got a little upset,” she added with a smile.
West got out to a 3-0 lead in the second set, but it didn’t
last long as East scored five straight to take a 5-3 lead. The Suns never
trailed the rest of the match, including taking a 9-1 lead to start the third
set.
West challenged East early in the match because it played
with a nothing-tolose attitude. The Spartans were coming off an upset Thursday
at Oshkosh West.
In addition, West didn’t like how it played two weeks
earlier against East, so it had something to prove.
“They were pumped,” Hasse said of West. “They had nothing to
lose in this match. They came ready to play and it showed.
“It was the best I’ve seen them play all season.”
East will play Manitowoc Lincoln at 8 p.m. Friday at Neenah
High School in the sectional semifinal.
Hartford Union will play Neenah at 6 p.m. in the other
semifinal.
The Suns beat Manitowoc Lincoln last season in the sectional
semifinal.
“I’m always happy when we get to the next step,” Hasse said.
As for West, the Spartans will say good-bye to five seniors
(Lexi Wolf, Megan Kohlmann, Alason Koenig, Meghan Walters and Rachel Wilberg).
The senior class played a big role in a transition year with a new coaching
staff.
“It’s really hard,” Tanking said about the seniors having a
new coach for their final season. “I had that happen to me my senior year of
college where we had a new coach come in.
“It requires a lot of communication; a lot of trust, which
is something that needs to be earned. I think they, for the most part, tried
their best. I changed a lot of things than what their previous coach did and I
think it was hard for the team to adjust.”
The Spartans had six juniors, two sophomores and two
freshmen on the roster this season, which Tanking believes will bode well going
into the offseason.
“That’s a positive for next season,” she said.
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