The Loudonville Christian Eagles were given one of the toughest assignments for any team making its debut at the state volleyball tournament face the defending class D champions and last year’s runner-up in the first two rounds of pool play, and then take on a traditional state power.
Have a nice day.
Loudonville Christian made the best of its daunting task. After losing four straight games to Haldane and Randolph, the Eagles defeated Section IV champion Candor 25-19 and 26-24 to place third at last weekend’s tournament at Glens Falls Civic Center.
I’m thrilled to be behind those two teams,` said Loudonville Christian coach Rosemary Burgher of Haldane and Randolph, which wound up playing each other in the state finals.
`I think we did the best we could,` said Stephanie Collins. `The first four games didn’t work out in our favor.`
It looked like Loudonville Christian would be overwhelmed in its first trip to states after Haldane (Section I) defeated the Eagles 25-12 in their first game. But Loudonville Christian showed some fight and challenged Haldane in the second game before losing 25-22.
The task became tougher when Loudonville Christian met defending state champion Randolph (Section VI). The Cardinals pulled away for a 25-18 victory in the first game and fended off several Eagle rallies to win the second game 25-20.
`I felt skill-wise we were up to it, but the mental aspect I wasn’t sure they’d be up to it mentally,` said Burgher.
The Eagles shook off their losses and concentrated on avoiding the shutout against Candor. They took it to the Indians in the first game and won 25-19 to assure themselves of at least one victory.
Candor bounced back in the second game and built a 22-12 lead, but Loudonville Christian rallied behind the serving of Collins. Following a sideout, the senior captain served 10 consecutive points to put the Eagles in front, and freshman Alyssa Paulsen finished a 26-24 victory with two service points.
`I was really hoping we would (rally),` said Collins, who finished the tournament with 23 service points and 14 kills. `I didn’t think we could (rally from a 10-point deficit), but we just kept going.`
`When I saw Stephanie was our next server, I had a glimmer of hope,` said Burgher. `She’s a very good server. She’s like a machine.`
Lila Roberts contributed 13 kills, and SuGui Kriss added 70 assists for Loudonville Christian, which had never been to a state tournament in any sport before making the volleyball field.
`It was a great way to end the season,` said Collins.“