WHITEHALL — For Whitehall coach Ted Edsall, it always comes down to passing. If the Vikings are good at it, it unlocks everything else. If they struggle, the result looks something like Tuesday night - a 18-25, 25-19, 25-22, 25-16 defeat to Ludington to open West Michigan Conference Lakes play.
"If we pass, we can beat anybody," Edsall said. "They played a
lot better, but they passed and served a lot better. If you don't pass
well, it's hard to set and it's hard to hit. There's nothing magical (to
it). We've really struggled all year so that's going to be the
difference on whether we're any good at all."
The Vikes (5-5, 0-1 WMC Lakes) took advantage of some uncharacteristic Ludington errors to secure a game one win. Senior Sidney Shepherd sparked a decisive 5-0 run by attacking on the team's second touch to score a kill out of a Whitehall timeout. The Orioles tried to claw back into that one, but to no avail.
Ludington, however, took big leads in each of the remaining three games. Whitehall looked as crisp offensively as it did all night in the latter portion of game two, when the Vikings rallied from down 18-9 to get as close as three points, at 21-18. However, they couldn't sustain it. An attempted comeback in game three, during which Whitehall got from down 20-14 to within a point at 23-22, also fell short.
Ludington ran off with a big lead in game four, too, and this time the Vikings couldn't answer it, enabling the O's to put it away.
Ludington has been a WMC Lakes power the past couple of years, but Edsall felt with its lack of experience, Whitehall could've had a chance at the win with better passing.
"I don't think we were overmatched," Edsall said. "If we could get in rallies, we were good. We just couldn't get in system
enough to be competitive."
Whitehall's offense hit only .060 as a team, struggling with miscues, an imposing Orioles front line, and an inability to set up high-quality attacks. Bella Fogus had 10 kills and 25 digs, leading the team in both categories.
Edsall was pleased with the play of sophomore Aaliyah Jamison, who made several impressive digs - 21 in total - and managed eight kills. Her effort level, Edsall said, has been consistently excellent, and she should continue to improve with more experience.
"She's athletic, she tries
really hard and it means something to her," Edsall said. "Tonight I thought she
really did some nice stuff attacking. Her back-row play is always good.
She had some great saves. She's really coming
along."
Still, the team's overall play must improve, and Edsall said it's on him to make sure it happens.
"It just has to get better, and that's my job," Edsall said. "We work on passing all the time. We've just got to get going with it."
