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10/12/2015 12:00 AMIt’s been a year of transition for Haddam-Killingworth volleyball on the heels of a 2014 season that saw the team earn top spots in both the Shoreline Conference and state and then part ways with its legendary coach. Still, the Cougars are beginning to find some familiarity by putting a few in the win column.
Led by first-year Head Coach Robin Callender, the Cougars returned only one starter from that championship squad of last fall. With new faces to the varsity team, HK endured some early struggles with a 2-5 start until a recent run that’s seen the Cougars rattle off three-straight triumphs, including a sweep at Old Lyme on Oct. 5.
“The girls are starting to settle in, I think. I flip-flopped a couple spots in moving [sophomore] Kate Porter and [senior] Carley Moyher from the fourth and fifth serving spots to the first and second ones,” said Callender. “It’s working for us because they are decent servers, plus right away at the start of a game, it helps with the girls’ confidence and to decrease their jitters when they have four-five points in a row to start.”
The Cougars (5-5) raced out to a 1-0 lead with a 25-15 victory in game one before the Wildcats (3-8) made the visitors work for the second with HK prevailing 26-24, after which the Cougars took the finale 25-17. Senior Kyrie McCormick sparked the offensive attack with 15 kills, along with 16 service points and four aces. Moyher added 13 kills, 22 digs, 12 service points, and four aces; plus Porter had the generous hand on the night with 35 assists, while tacking on nine kills, 13 service points, and five aces.
“With our team, because of the inexperience at the varsity level, they sometimes make a couple of mistakes late in the crucial points of a set and start not believing in themselves,” Callender said. “It happened in the second set against Cromwell [a 3-2 win on Oct. 2], where we were up 23-22 and then have three serves hit the net. Yet we won here and so I’m hoping that will give them the confidence that they can finish sets in the crucial spots. They are very talented and continuing to progress.”
As the Cougars’ former JV coach, Callender has used that background to her squad’s benefit. Five of HK’s six seniors played on JV in 2014 and, for the most part, the varsity call-ups have taken a shine to the big stage.
“I know they can do it and, now that they’ve seen they can do it, it’ll hopefully help them gain experience. With our seniors this year, I’ve coached them all four years, so they know me and my expectations, which is nice,” said Callender. “I knew the lack of experience for varsity going in was a problem, but each time they are more successful, it helps them play their game. They have the talent. They just need to put it all together as a team and play with confidence during the crucial points of a game.”
A potentially season-defining victory for HK came against Cromwell the previous week, when the Cougars returned the favor from a five-set loss in their opener back on Sept. 11.
“That one was really big because we knew we were three points from winning that first meeting with them. Yet they needed to learn from it because it would make them better,” said Callender on the Oct. 2 decision. “In the second set, they were a little unsure of themselves and Cromwell won that set because we had six serving errors late in it. But they knew they could’ve won versus them the first time, so they really worked hard in practice and showed they wanted it.”
Callender pointed out that despite the defeats throughout the opening half of the season, the Cougars never once took on the role of a doormat to their competition. Preparing to face a second-half schedule saturated with top-notch league opponents, it’s all hands on deck for HK.
“It’s a very competitive Shoreline conference this year and, in the whole first half of our year, there wasn’t one team that dominated us. I told them that we’re so close with every single team and that we can win,” said Callender, whose team also took a 3-0 loss versus Valley Regional on Oct. 7. “Hale-Ray has had an incredible year and so have Coginchaug and East Hampton. There is so much talent in the conference, so in any game, anything can happen. We just have to be on our toes at all times.”
The victory over the Wildcats was the Cougars’ first sweep of the season.
The senior class for HK is comprised of Kaela Schumann, Sarah Criscuolo, Kyrie McCormick, August Biondi, Carley Moyher, and Jaci McManus.
The Cougars prepare to face Hale-Ray on the road on Friday, Oct. 16 at 5:30 p.m. before a pair of non-league clashes at home with Lyman Memorial the next day at noon and then Bacon Academy on Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 5:30. HK then returns to Shoreline action on Wednesday, Oct. 21 when it hosts North Branford at 5:30.