Local Sports
Archives
| Arts & Entertainment
| Audio/Video
| Business
| Classifieds
| Columns
| Food
| Forums
| Health & Fitness
| News
| Obits
| Opinions
| People
| Politics
| Science/Technology
| Search
| Sports
| Subscribe
| Travel
| Weather
Published
by the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. CLICK FOR NEWSPAPER DELIVERY
Saturday, November 10, 2001
Carroll spikers stumble
By Andrea Wall
Caller-Times
SAN ANTONIO - Carroll senior Jackie Choi had dreamt of this night since volleyball's induction to the Corpus Christi Independent School District four years ago.
She and the rest of her Carroll volleyball team had finally made it to the regional semifinals - further than any other team from CCISD has ever gone - and had to face longtime powerhouse Austin Westlake upon arrival.
"We have waited to play this game for so long," Choi said. "But, it is pressure when you are only a four-year program playing a 25-year or longer program. But, no excuses."
Westlake justified the nerves Choi felt after pounding Carroll 15-2, 15-3 Friday night at the University of Texas at San Antonio.
Carroll looked nervous and out of place in the first game, after the Chaps jumped out to an 8-1 lead. Unforced errors killed the Tigers, who continuously sent kills wide, missed passes and were late on digs.
"It is hard to try to explain to the girls the level we need to play at to beat this kind of team, without getting them really nervous," said Carroll coach Linda Lindsey. "And they were nervous anyway. We probably had more errors in this one match, than we have had the past four combined."
Westlake quickly took the first game 15-2. As the Lady Tigers stepped onto the court for the second game, Lindsey yelled, "Let's just take what we got and run with it."
And they did. Carroll started the second game much more competitive than the former. Instead of blocking on an angle as they did during the regular season, they started to line block, allowing them to get their hands on many more Westlake shots.
The Tigers also got a huge boost from Tina Grohman early in game two, who put away three balls. Carroll's only lead of the match came from a Grohman kill which put them ahead 1-0.
"We just tried to play too safe," said Grohman, a senior. "And we never did that in the season. That is why we were either short or long on kills."
Despite Carroll's early surge in game two, Westlake's powerful hitting was too much for them to handle. Westlake senior Jessica Mihm - younger sister of University of Texas basketball star Chris Mihm - was nearly unstoppable at the net and recorded five kills on the night.
Westlake took the second game 15-3 and will face San Antonio O'Connor today at 2 p.m. in the regional finals.
"Linda Lindsey has done a great job with that team," said Al Bennett, who has been at Westlake High School since 1988. "The whole team should really be commended. This is a hard game to get here and they are already here, even though Corpus hasn't had volleyball around long."
Kills - CAR, Cristin Mustard 1, Jackie Choi 3, Rebecca Nycum 2, Tina Grohman 4; WEST, Ashley Denbow 6, Jessica Mihm 5, Rachel Tilson 5; Aces - WEST, Denbow 2; Blocks - CAR, Meg Ferguson 1; WEST, Mihm 1, Molly Wells 1; Assists - CAR, Choi 5, Alison Starling 4; WEST, Mihm 11, Meghan Kainz 10; Digs - CAR, Choi 4, Nycum 3, Grohman 3, Starling 4, Crystal Sieber 2, Lauren Diou 1.
Contact Andrea Wall at 886-3631 or walla@caller.com
| Talk
about this story | Next Story | Home
|
© 2001,
a Scripps Howard newspaper. All rights reserved.
|
 |
 |
|
