Volleyball alumni honor seniors, who promptly beat them

The varsity Lady Wolves beat both the junior varsity and alumni teams at a matchup Nov. 26.

The games were part of an annual tradition used to give Wrangell residents a second look at their players – who would otherwise have only a single home meet – honor the team's four graduating seniors, and raise money to help supplement the high school's athletics budget.

While that might mean the stakes for the game are relatively low, that doesn't mean either side in the main-event match up between the alumni and the varsity team pulled any punches, even though they might sometimes be tempted to, said McKenna Harding, one of the seniors and the teams outside and middle hitter.

"I don't get brave enough to do it, and I don't want to be mean," Harding said.

Harding has been playing volleyball since her debut in the sixth grade, and said farewell to the program along with fellow seniors varsity setter Erica Smith, varsity right side hitter and defensive specialist Calleigh Miller, and JV right side hitter Kristin Galla.

"I just really liked it for sixth grade," Harding said. "My coach, Jessica, really helped me a lot."

While the seniors also don't slow down for the alumni, the alumni don't slow down the game for the varsity players, said varsity head coach Jessica Whitaker, who joined the ranks of the varsity squad sporadically throughout the night.

"I play against them almost every day in practice," she said. "They're kind of used to what I do."

While that might put Whitaker at an advantage (perhaps alone among the alumni squadron) it also means there are six sets of eyes watching who've seen her moves before, she added.

"As you can probably tell, Erica (Smith) can read me pretty well, she knows when I'm gonna tip and what-not," she said. "It's always fun to finally get to play against them. They look forward to being able to beat their coach and beat the old alumni. It's always a good game."

Not that the alumni were necessarily at a disadvantage for youth against the upstart varsity whippersnappers. They took the first game 25-23, then lost straight sets 25-18 and 25-13, and appeared to field a few members young enough to find Lady Gaga comprehensible.

"We had three freshmen in college come back, we had a sophomore out of college, one of us that's a teacher, and a few other community members that come in," Whitaker said.

Alumni came from as far away as Colorado to play in the game at the high school gym. Whitaker admitted being conflicted about the numbers on the scoreboard. The team she played for – the alumni – lost, but the team she coached – varsity – won.

"I wanted to make sure that I was doing a bit of coaching, but I also wanted to make sure that I play, because they look forward to playing me," she said. "I sat out the second game to make sure that I was coaching them, making sure that their confidence level was still up and they knew what they were supposed to be doing as a team."

So while the results are disappointing on one hand, they are promising on another, Whitaker said.

"I'm excited that their momentum's still continuing," she said. "They seem to be growing every game we play. They haven't topped out so I'm hoping we ride that energy right through regionals."

The Lady Wolves conclude their regular season this weekend at the Region V meet in Klawock.