Wildcats wallop Waynesfield-Goshen

MINSTER - So begins the "second season."

Last evening in the Minster Middle School Gymnasium, head coach Cami Garman's squad opened up their tournament trek by dominating the Waynesfield-Goshen Tigers in three sets by finals of 25-11, 25-11 and 25-16 in their Division IV postseason opener.

"It's always nice to get those opening tournament game jitters out of the way and to have the chance to work on a few things that we know we are going to need to get better at down the road," Garman explained. "I thought our energy was down a little bit in the early going and I would have liked to have seen us communicate a little more throughout, but overall this evening was a good team win."

The Wildcats advanced to tomorrow's sectional title game in New Bremen, where they will square off with the Arlington Red Devils at 5:30 p.m.

The battle started a tad sluggish for the Orange and Black, as over-aggressive hitting put them in a 2-0 hole early on. The tide soon shifted, however, as Minster pulled in front 6-5 following a kill by senior Averi Wolf, and they never looked back as Wolf then took the serve and rattled off six straight points to push her team in command 12-5. Although the Tigers pulled to within four points at 13-9, Wildcat senior Kaitlyn Wolf soon dished up five straight points, which resulted in a 21-10 command before the home team eventually rolled to the 14-point victory.

"I would have liked for us to serve a little more aggressive tonight and limit our errors," Garman said. "Despite that, we felt pretty comfortable for the most part, but we know there are a few things we are going to have to clean up in order move on through Thursday."

The Wildcats wasted little time in grabbing command of the second game. Kaitlyn Wolf served four straight points to give her squad the 4-0 lead, an edge they refused to relinquish. The Wildcats dominated the contest thanks to a blend of heavy hitting by senior Josie Winner, timely serving by junior Ava Sharp and senior Laney Hemmelgarn, as well as several defensive miscues by the Tigers. With a 23-11 command, Kaitlyn Wolf polished off set two with three straight service points to secure the 25-11 win.

Garman turned to her bench to finish things off for the night and they didn't disappoint in the decisive game, as sophomore Jayden Clune ignited things from the service line with six straight points to give the home team a 7-1 advantage. Although the Tigers, with their season on the brink of closure, fought their way to as close as three points, the Wildcats maintained their dominance and eventually grabbed the 25-16 victory, pushing them to 14-8 overall on the season.

"Anytime we can get the reserve girls into a tournament game, it is very good situation," Garman said. "To be able to get them some exposure to a postseason game and get them playing with one another will only help with getting them use to the pace of the varsity level as well."

The Wildcats were led in their triumph by Sharp and sophomore Ella Mescher with five kills apiece, as well as senior Emily Stubbs with 11 digs.