Wapahani's season was worth screaming about.
Photo courtesy of Wapahani High School
Burdened with the sting of three straight post-season losses to Muncie Burris (Muncie, Ind.),
Wapahani (Selma, Ind.) senior defensive specialists
Sierra Reed and
Taylor Richardson along with their Raider teammates turned the tables on their Mid Eastern League rivals last month.
Slapping the top-ranked Owls with an epic 25-18, 25-21, 20-25, 25-16 No. 1 vs. No. 2 first-round sectional win, Mike Lingenfelter's club ended Muncie Burris' 14-year Class 2A state volleyball reign.
"No offense to them," Reed said. "They are really, really good. Like everyone else, we went in believing we were going to win."
Wapagani finished the season 32-6.
Photo courtesy of Wapahani High School
But unlike the best Class 2A teams Indiana had to offer since the Hoosier State opted to move to a multi-class state volleyball tournament in 1997-98, Wapahani did get the job done. An early season loss to the 14-time defending state champions was the tell-tale sign that Burris' run may be in jeopardy.
"After we lost to them in five (sets) earlier this year, we felt pretty confident that we could get them in three (sets)," Reed said of what she called a sub-par Raider performance in the loss. "There was no way we were going to lose to them again. They can have conference, we took state.
"I hate to admit it, but I had so much anger built up. They beat us in every sectional that I had played in. I didn't like having our season end that early."
Shortly after the final point dropped to the floor in that historic win over the Owls, a media frenzy took over the auditorium. It soon became apparent that second-ranked Wapahani would wear the favorite label during the remainder of the 2011 Indiana State volleyball tournament.
No one seemed interested in what lied ahead for the Raiders. Members of the media just wanted to discuss the unseating of a great champion. For the time being Lingenfelter allowed his squad to enjoy the moment. But soon it would be time to go back to work.
"There were some intense moments following the win," Lingenfelter said. "We were afraid of a let down. We realized you don't just get anointed champions. It was tough getting focused again. The credit goes to the kids. Every where we went, the media didn't want to talk about our upcoming opponent – they just wanted to talk about Burris."
As Lingenfelter soon found out, his worries were for naught. Reed, who will play at Eastern Michigan next year, Richardson and the Raiders were well aware of the pitfalls that awaited them.
"During the regular season, everyone you play is not real good," Reed said. "You have your rivalries and you play hard. But when you get to the post season, every team is good. Even the bad teams play to their best potential. You have to go out and compete every night."
Richardson credited the Wapahani coaching staff for a job well done in refocusing the Raiders.
"Actually it was pretty hard," Richardson said of getting back to the task at hand. "Coach put us in the right frame of mind. The tournament wasn't just about Burris. We had to move on.
"It was exciting for all of us. But we still hadn't won the state championship. We had a lot more matches to play so we couldn't focus on that one match. We had to focus on the others too."
Wapahani advanced through the sectional bracket by sweeping wins from Winchester and Shenandoah, to secure the sectional crown. The Raiders then outlasted Madison-Grant 25-23, 25-13, 16-25, 25-14 for the Regional championship.
Semi-state wins over Wheeler and Southwood vaulted Wapahani into the championship match against Eastern Greene.
"We found out in a hurry what it was like to be the hunter and not the hunted," Lingenfelter said. "Before - we were chasing Burris. But once we knocked them off we quickly went from being everybody's darling to being the upset special."
Wapahani swept the Thunderbirds 25-16, 28-26, 25-14 in the title match, which was held at Ball State University's Worthen Arena. But not before encountering some trying moments in the second set. The Raiders had to rally from a 24-22 deficit in order to make short work of the runners-up.
Brittany Cline (2) was one of the
team's top hitters.
Photo courtesy of Wapahani High School
Uncharacteristic errors couldn't keep the well tested, well prepared Raiders down. Wapahani soon collected themselves and began their rally.
"We were down," recalled Reed. "We made a lot of stupid mistakes. I don't know why. But it felt great to come back. We work on coming from behind all of the time, so we were prepared.
"Throughout the match, we were happy. We celebrated each point. Every point mattered to this team."
For Richardson, who will play at Ball State next fall, competing at Worthen was a great way for her to end her high school career while at the same time jump-starting her collegiate career.
"Winning state and beating Burris was a great way to end it," Richardson said of the conclusion of her high school career. "Beating Burris was really exciting because we finally beat them. Playing at Ball State was great too. It was nice to get it started there."
Before and during the season Lingenfelter didn't mention the words " state championship" to his team. But it was obvious what the objective was. The Raiders (32-6) were simply set on winning the final match they played.
Reed, who competed with Richardson on Lingenfelter's Muncie 18-under Samarai squad that won a national championship over the summer, said that she and her teammates just wanted to be a better team than they were the year before.
"We are a bunch of corn fed girls that worked our tails off," Reed said. "We had great athletes on this team, and people that worked hard. We may not have always got what we wanted, at the end of the season, but we work hard towards our goals."
