Andrews – The fight has been there for the Andrews volleyball team so far this season. It just hasn’t led to as many wins yet. Sandwiched in between two wins at Nantahala, the Lady Wildcats lost three straight five set games.
“We are really trying to learn how to win and right now we’re obviously struggling with that,” head coach Shanna Mustin said. “We will have a team backed into a corner then we let them back in. Instead of finishing the job, we open a door back up for them to come back.”
The Lady Wildcats (2-3 overall) look more comfortable and cohesive on the court than they did last year, but just haven’t figured out how to be as consistent. Against Highlands (1-4) on Aug. 17, they won the first set before the Lady
Highlanders won the next two sets, 25-23, 25-19. The Lady Wildcats won the fourth set, 25-23 to force a winner-take-all fifth, but narrowly lost the final set, 16-14.
Four days later against Union County (3-3), the two teams alternated set wins, with the Lady Panthers winning the first, third and fifth set. The following day against Hiwassee Dam (2-3), Andrews dropped the first two sets before rallying to force another fifth set. Mustin said they changed up their rotation to start the third set, putting their top server, senior Americas LeQuire But with the fifth set tied at 6, the Lady Eagles reeled off six straight points to give themselves a cushion to finish off the match.
“We fought tooth and nail to the end, which is definitely progress,” Mustin said. “But we don’t need to be in that situation. We could be ahead and not be in the game 5 and then it’s not the same pressure.”
The mentality is the last part Mustin is looking to unlock for this team. The Lady Wildcats don’t have a lot of size at hitter, but scrap on defense and can win points on serves. Even against Hiwassee Dam, hitters Kylie Donaldson and Beth Shook started to place the ball instead of just put a really
hard swing on it. The formula for success, even with a small margin for error, is there.
The final step, though, is the hardest. In the past two seasons, three of Andrews four wins have come against Nantahala (1-3), and better teams are coming with a home game against Cherokee (3-2) yesterday and a trip to Robbinsville (4-2) on Thursday. This year’s team has taken steps forward, even if it hasn’t always led to the desired result.
“Mental toughness for sure is something that we talk about a lot,” Mustin said. “But it’s a hard thing to coach.”