The Westside volleyball team won the A-4 district championship against Gretna on Wednesday. The Warriors won in four very hard fought sets. The win in districts will send them to the state tournament after a year filled with adversity.
“It’s great,” head coach Andrew Wehrli said, “These kids have really battled through a lot of adversity this year. Losing our setter halfway through, having a freshman defender step up to set. They’ve just done a great job.”
The Warriors battled through adversity throughout this game. In the 1st set, Westside came out victorious after being tied with Gretna at 22, scoring 3 straight points to win 25-22. Gretna won the second set 20-25 after being tied at 19. Westside won the third set 25-22 after being tied at 22, and in the fourth set, the Warriors dominated, winning 25-12.
“Our seniors really led,” Wehrli said. “I stepped into the huddle and said that the seniors were gonna take the huddle, and stepped out. They talked for about a minute and they just reorganized everything. They got into a rhythm and it was awesome.”
Westside came out victorious in a very hard fought game while being led by their seniors. Tatum Godinez is one of the four seniors, who have led all season, and going into state with a lot to prove.
“It’s just awesome, it shows that we have unfinished business, and it shows that this team can do it,” Godinez said.
Between the second and third sets, c0oach Wehrli pulled junior Ashlyn Paymal aside to talk. Paymal had 16 kills in the game, with a hitting percentage of .306%.
“I just told her that when we need a big play, she’s gonna be the one. And if you watch what she did in that fourth set, it was just incredible. She really took over down the stretch,” Coach Wehrli said.
In between districts and metros, the Warriors worked on what they have worked on all season, improving their play at the net.
“We’ve worked on a lot of blocking, a lot of tipping, and roll shots to mix up our components. Then we worked on the same serving and a lot of offense,” Paymal said.
The Warriors will play on Wednesday, Nov. 3 against No. 5 seed Grand Island, where they look to continue on in the state tournament.
“It’s gonna be fun, we want as many students as we can get there, it’s gonna be awesome. We’re gonna see who we have, but our kids are ready to fight,” Wehrli said.
