PENDLETON — It was a little more intense preparation than planned.
Greenfield-Central had beaten Anderson 3-0 in a regular-season volleyball match on Oct. 8. The Cougars won 75 of 88 points.
When the 20-win Cougars drew 2-win Anderson as their first-round opponent in the Pendleton Heights Sectional, you would think there didn’t need to be a whole lot of gameplan changes against a team they had dominated just one week earlier.
That was probably true until one day prior to Tuesday’s quarterfinal match.
Senior setter Makenna Rankins, the program’s single-season and all-time leader in assists, went down with an ankle injury at Monday’s practice. It left head coach Candice Wyatt, without a proven varsity backup, scrambling for how her team was going to be competitive both against the Indians and future sectional opponents.
The new plan worked Tuesday as the Cougars improved to 21-9 with a 3-0 sweep of Anderson (2-18). G-C won by set scores of 25-8, 25-8, 25-4.
But it wasn’t as easy as it might have looked.
The team spent the remainder of Monday’s practice testing to see who might be able to set with Rankins out. On the day of the match, Wyatt came up with a plan of how they would play with Rankins unavailable against the Indians and the possibility the senior may not play if the team continues to advance.
“I spent two hours [Tuesday] writing out different options and writing out pros and cons for each one,” Wyatt said. “I had to make something that makes us most competitive if we don’t have Makenna on Saturday, fingers crossed we don’t have to. It’s got to be as competitive as possible, not just to win [Tuesday], but other sectional games.
“I sent them the rotation [Tuesday] in a group chat. And then we got to school and before we got on the bus we did a quick walk through. We did another walk through when we got to [Pendleton] and that was it.”
Rankins was in a boot Tuesday and Wyatt said they are hoping a couple of days rest will have her ready to go when the team takes on Muncie Central (5-13) 10 a.m. Saturday in the first of two semifinal matches. The Cougars beat the Bearcats 3-0 on September 30 by set scores of 25-11, 25-14, 25-13.
Middle hitter Harper Holden, and outside hitters Alex Muegge and Rilee Roland handled setting duties Tuesday. Wyatt said she may cut that down to two setting options on Saturday, but she thought all did well in brief notice.
“What we did tonight was kind of a hodgepodge rotation with Harper [Holden], Rilee [Roland] and Alex [Muegge] all kind of taking turns hitting outside and setting to see what worked best if we don’t have Makenna back on Saturday,” Wyatt said. “I think they did a really good job and it seemed like it was getting better as the night went on. It was getting more and more fine-tuned when they were able to figure out the new rotation and figure what the go-to would be for each one.”
The Cougars got by a different way in the opening set, winning 11 of their 25 points on service aces, but they were getting the hang of things in the third set.
They ran off 12 straight points on Muegge’s serve. Roland was doing much of the setting, feeding Holden and middle hitter Lili Jeffries. Holden was playing two new positions. Normally a middle hitter, she played on the outside much of Tuesday’s match.
“Harper especially did a really good job. She has not been full rotation the whole season,” Wyatt said. “To go from being a three-rotation middle to six-rotation setting and outside hitting, she really stepped up with her outside kills. She did great job setting both front row and in back row and did a good job overall playing that full rotation spot. She’s not used to that and she handled it perfectly.”
Holden had 11 kills in the third set.
“I think they all had a good attitude about it. I really wasn’t sure what I was going to do rotation-wise.” Wyatt said. “When I put it out there they were like, ‘whatever you need us to do we’ll do it.’ They all stepped up. It stinks not having Makenna, but they were able to get the job done. They knew the rotation, knew who was next to them each time. They responded well and all stepped up and led the way [Tuesday] and got the win for Makenna.”
