The Prairie volleyball team was a player down on the court, but not in the Falcons’ heart.
“Catie Harshaw had a medical emergency today, and she couldn’t be here tonight,” Prairie coach Jen Palmer said. “But we used FaceTime so she could watch us play. She was home, in her jersey, but she was with us in spirit.”
When Harshaw’s named was announced during pre-match ceremonies, senior Shelby Kocin grabbed the iPad that was relaying video back to Harshaw, ran it down the line of Prairie players and around the court lined with students, just as every other Prairie player had done when their names were announced.
“We just wanted her to feel like she was here,” senior Lainne Wilkins said.
Then, with a little added motivation, the Falcons then swept past Kelso 25-10, 25-13, 25-13.
“I honestly think that this was one of the best games we’ve played all season,” Wilkins said. “We stayed as a team the entire time, and we didn’t allow ourselves to dip at all.”
Palmer said the credit for that goes to her core group of senior leaders like Wilkins, Katie Vroman and Molly Packer.
“I knew when first practices began that we had a good group of players,” Palmer said. “But I just didn’t know how the new players were going to gel. But they came and worked really hard in practice. And our returning players are strong leaders. The team has come together better than I could have expected.”
With junior Jamie Packer serving, the Falcons went on a seven-point run to open an 11-4 lead in the first set. Prairie would finish seven of the final eight points to finish 25-10.
They used an 11-0 run to take control of the second set. When Kelso battled to keep things close in the third set, Wilkins helped serve the Falcons to six straight points to take a 17-9 edge that wasn’t threatened the rest of the way.
Vroman led Prairie with 10 kills and Sophia Carter added seven. Wilkins had 23 assists and eight digs, while Packer added 18 digs.
Palmer said the Falcons made big strides last weekend at the Kent Tournament against some strong competition.
“We had some high highs and low lows,” Palmer said. “We had one match against Ferndale that went something 36-34 or 35-33. We didn’t win, but it was thrilling points in the match. Then the next one we kind of went into shutdown mode. After that loss, we had a heart-to-heart about staying focus. And from there, we finished strong.”
Wilkins said that’s all been part of the learning process for this year’s squad.
“I think it took a little time, but now we’re finally molding together,” Wilkins said.
