Lady Huskies take third place at State

The volleyball season has wrapped up for the Lady Huskies who finished with a third place in the 1A classification. “What an amazing weekend,” said Coach Erin Bassett. “I was so proud of each of our girls. They put so much effort and heart into every game. You always expect to have tough competition at the state tournament level and it proved to be true.”

Burlington entered the competition as the No. 3 seed from the West and faced Upton, the No. 2 seed from the East. The Lady Huskies were locked in and won in four: 25-10, 25-17, 20-25, 25-20.

The win set them up against Little Snake River, the No. 1 seed from the West. Burlington kept the first two sets close, but the real excitement came in the third set with a crazy back and forth fight. The Lady Huskies started out slow and at one point were down 15-20. They fought back and tied the score at 23. Both teams battled back and forth for the final two-point lead but neither could pull ahead. With the score tied at 30, Burlington finally ended the game with an ace from Sophie Olson and a block at the net from Sarah McNiven and Naomi McNiven. “Mentally and physically it was tough! What a team effort. We had the girls on the floor that had been gutting it out, contributing, we had players coming in cold off the bench and performing well, I was so proud of each of them.”

The fight wasn’t over, though, and Little Snake put the fourth game away. Scores were 21-25, 21-25, 32-30, 15-25.

Losing shifted Burlington into the losing side of the bracket, where they played Southeast the next morning. “We were excited to match up against Southeast. They were ranked well above us in the polls all year long and were their conference’s No. 1 team. They have some individually great players, but were very balanced and we knew we had to defend all equally.”

The Lady Huskies took the first game but lost momentum and Southeast took the next two. “There was a range of emotions from our girls. While there was definite stress and maybe frustration from some, others were just as determined and excited by the competition. They were able to lend their energy, their excitement and their belief in our team to those that needed it. They worked together and it took every ounce of grit and determination to finish that game.”

Burlington reclaimed its motivation and took the last two: 25-22, 19-25, 19-25, 26-24 and 16-14.

The final game for the Lady Huskies was against Hulett. Hulett came out confidently and won the first set but Burlington was not finished. “We made a few strategic adjustments, remembered what we were there to do and took control of the rest of the game,” said Bassett. Burlington won,  20-25, 25-19, 25-13 and 25-15.

“It was an amazing weekend to watch the things our girls had worked so hard for all season long come to light. We have worked hard to put Lady Husky volleyball back where it belongs, competing at the top. What an amazing group of girls to do it with!” said Bassett.

The Lady Huskies will lose six seniors this year and Bassett also wanted to highlight them.

“Paxton Philpott is an amazing girl. She has a great talent for volleyball. She often led the team in kills and was one of our best passers. We designed a lot of our serve/receive to keep her passing the ball. The fun part about her is that we could drop her anywhere to pass and she could hit from any position across the net and be successful. Paxton got better reading the other team’s defense and was able to score in ways outside her power hit - should could tip accurately, tool a block and find an opening in the back court. Her skills and abilities will be greatly missed.

“Eve McNulty, as a libero, carried a big load for our team. She was always willing to step in and defend our court. She is small but mighty! Eve developed a great serve and could be counted on to place it anywhere we asked. She was really accurate and scored so many needed points for us with her talent.

“Naomi McNiven can always be counted on to put in the work. She is always willing to step in wherever she is asked and give it all her effort. Naomi played a huge role as a defender for us this year, it was a nice balance to have her opposite of Paxton because we knew we were always well covered. She is flexible and versatile and we were able to use it to our advantage.

“Hailee Winterholler is another quiet contributor for us. She could always be counted on to do her job. She and Naomi worked well together on the front row-sometimes she would hit outside, sometimes she would hit middle and block for us-always keeping the other team on their toes. One of Hailee’s strengths is knowing the game and being strategic. She can generate a lot of power when she swings but she also was able to place a ball strategically to get the kill.

“Dalley Bassett can always be counted on to do anything you ask. She works hard to be consistent and competitive. She also played an important role in our serving strategy. She can be counted on to create out of system play for the other team.

“Orabella Heaton is a joy to be around. She always has a positive attitude and is ready to help. She was a great passer for us, was constantly working and asking for feedback on how to improve,” ended Bassett.