The Cardinals volleyball team broke out the brooms Tuesday night as they swept Louisburg in three straight sets in the team’s home opener.
Head coach Brooke Hopper said it was exciting to be in a gym full of Cardinals fans for the first time since she became head coach.
“There’s just something really special about being able to play in front of your home crowd,” Hopper said. “And just having that energy, and being familiar with the court, you know, welcoming another team into your gym. And it’s always a great night when it ends in a sweep.”
Senior Madison Karten felt a spark in the crowd ahead of the team’s long awaited home debut as well.
“With it being homecoming week, everyone wants to be involved. Everyone wants to be out at the game,” Karten said. “So, it really helped.”
The extra boost of energy and anticipation helped the Cardinals jump out to an early 5-2 lead in the first set, but the Wildcats would hang around for much of the game.
About midway through, however, the Cardinals ignited a scoring run that saw them score eight straight points to take the set 25-14.
Much of the scoring came off the right hand of junior Addy Hemphill as her serving led to several points for the Cardinals.
Hemphill said her volleyball IQ helped her make good serves during the team’s hot streak.
“I was just being smart with my plays. Coach was giving me really good spots, and I was really taking advantage of them,” Hemphill said. “I was really trying to move around the players on the court, and I think that’s really what helped us gain all those points.”
Hemphill had seven of the team’s nine aces on the night.
The second set was much closer throughout as neither team could create enough momentum to take control.
Even though the Cardinals were struggling, Hopper did not want to use one of her timeouts as she was determined to let her players roll with the punches and work together to get something going.
“I am a big fan of kind of just not over-coaching and letting the girls figure it out,” Hopper said. “I really like to make the girls dig deep and get past that mental block.”
Down the stretch of the second set, several Cardinals stepped up to put crucial points on the scoreboard.
Junior Indigo Pruitt denied a Wildcat point when she blocked a spike and made the score 22-19.
Senior Harper Andrews came soaring in for a big spike to make the score 23-21 after Louisburg cut the lead to one.
Then, Karten put the set away with authority when she spiked the ball over the net. The Cardinals took the second set 25-22.
After winning the close set, Karten said the team felt pretty good heading into the third and final set.
“Ending the second set with momentum really helped bring the momentum into the third set,” she said. “We kept building on that momentum throughout the set.”
The Cardinals got out to a quick 8-2 lead in the third set.
The highlight of the night came around the halfway point when junior Camron McCormick saved a point by chasing the ball to the first row of the bleachers and bumping it over her head back to Louisburg.
After that play, the Cardinals won that point to go up 14-8 and never looked back. The team took the final set 25-14, completing the sweep.
The team travels to Baldwin to take on the Bulldogs and Basehor-Linwood at 5 p.m. Thursday.
Hemphill said the team needs to continue to play with the charge they got from playing in front of their home crowd.
“We just have to stay aggressive. Keep the energy up,” she said. “Even though we won’t have our home crowd, we still have each other to lean on, and I think we can come out with the win.”
Hopper said Baldwin may be looking for revenge against the Cardinals after the team eliminated the Bulldogs from championship contention at the Baldwin Invitational Tournament earlier this month.
“It’s definitely something we have to go prepare for. Rest up for. Make sure our recovery is well coming off of tonight, and making sure that we’re focused,” Hopper said.
The team’s next home match is Sept. 28 against Tonganoxie.
Watch the Kaw Valley State Bank post-game show to hear more from Karten, Hemphill and Hopper about the sweep of Louisburg.
Reach reporter Jack Denebeim at [email protected].
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