Story and Photos by Rusty Ellis
The Upperman Lady Bees fell behind early, but battled back to win a thrilling, in-school match over White County by a final score of 3-2 (27-25, 18-25, 19-25, 25-13, 15-13).
After taking the first set by a close, two-point margin, Upperman fell in the following two sets. Notably, it was when the White County crowd was at its peak, making communication difficult for both teams on the floor.
As the crowd began filing out near the end of the third set, the Lady Bees began to make some progress in the comeback effort. It culminated with Upperman winning the final two sets 25-13 and 15-13, respectively, to win the match 3-2.
“To be at the level that we’re at, they know they can’t play like that,” said UHS head coach Barbie Cook on the first three sets. “It’s a slow process, and sometimes they turn it on and then turn it off. Even though there’s a lot of learning we’ve still got ahead of us, they’ve come a long, long way. I feel like they’re making progress, just slowly.”
The change in crowd certainly helped improve communications on Upperman’s side, and it showed in their improved play in the fourth and fifth sets.
“Any girls that have ever played for me know that I go off on communication being key,” Cook said. “I told them ‘you’re going to have to be loud and aggressive’…we were trying to get them to adjust and get them ready for the big crowds they’re coming up on in these next few weeks.”
As the postseason approaches, Cook knows that her girls’ ability to adjust to things in the middle of the match will be key in terms of how far they can go.
“It’s always something new,” Cook said. “They’re a growing team, they’re always making progress and they aren’t the same team they were at the beginning of the season…it’s a huge adjustment.”
