Published: October 31, 2009 11:34 pm         

Volleyball Roundup: Edinburgh ends Shakamak’s run; Rockville comes up short in regional

Westport — The next volleyball coach at Shakamak High School will have Jeri Morin to thank for preparing the Lakers to take the next step.

Making their third straight appearance in the Class A Volleyball Regional at South Decatur High School on Saturday, the Lakers won their first game in regional competition.

That was all the Lakers could muster as Edinburgh ended Shakamak’s season and Morin’s eight-year run as coach with a 3-1 victory. The Lakers topped the Lakers 25-15, 25-17, 14-25, 25-11.

“I’ve treasured this part of my life. It’s hard for me to let it go, but I know what’s best for me,” Morin said with tears in her eyes. She is leaving the bench to spend more time with her family.

Morin, who led the Lakers three sectional titles, two conference crowns, seven winning seasons and a 165-83 record, refused to go into what Shakamak did wrong while losing in the first round of the regional for the third straight year.

“The girls know their mistakes. There is no sense in pounding it into their brains. They know what they did wrong. They’re upset about the loss. But we’ve got to think about what we did last week [winning the sectional] and the accomplishments that we made,” Morin said.

Edinburgh, making its first ever appearance in the regional, never trailed in the first two games. Shakamak could not get its offense going, struggling with serve reception and passing to the hitters. Shakamak had 11 kills in the first two games combined, while Edinburgh’s Courtney Dragoo had 10 by herself.

But late in game two, down 17-9, the Lakers found something to rally around. The Lakers put together four straight points, and sophomore Mikayla Crane gave them a net game.

Crane, who missed four days of school and practice while ill, gave the Lakers confidence that showed in game three. A Crane stuff block gave the Lakers a 2-0 lead and two more Crane kills kept them ahead 4-2.

“We really struggled in the first two [games]. Then we got up and blocked. That was a big key in that third game. We stopped as lot of their balls and got them frustrated,” Morin said.

With the score tied 9-9, the Lakers stretched the margin out to 16-9, two points coming on kills by Holli Moore. A kill by Marki Collins and stuff block by Stacey Durham capped the Lakers’ 25-14 win.

“It’s nice winning that one [game]. I wish we could have kept going with the confidence, but we didn’t,” Morin said.

Shakamak’s Collins, a four-year varsity player, served the Lakers off to a 1-0 start in game four, but that was their last lead.

Morin ends her coaching career with seniors Amanda Gilbert, Kathleen Gilreath, Stacey Durham, Jessica Gilbert and Collins.



Edinburgh 25 25 14 — 25

Shakamak 15 17 25 — 11

Highlights — For Shakamak, Marki Collins had 10 kills and 10 digs, Amanda Gilbert passed out 24 assists, six digs, one ace and one kill. Holli Moore made six kills and had eight digs, Mikayla Crane had six kills and two blocks and Kylee Grissom had 13 digs. For Edinburgh, Courtney Dragoo made 14 kills and Emilee Owens eight.

Next — Shakamak finished the season 21-10.



• Rockville falls in regional play — The Rockville volleyball team concluded an outstanding 27-5 season Saturday in the championship match of the Class A Wes-Del Regional.

The Rox lost to Wes-Del 25-21, 25-14, 25-8 in the title match after their three-game victory earlier in the day over Randolph Southern by scores of 25-13, 25-22, 25-17.



Rockville 21 14 8

Wes-Del 25 25 25



Rockville 25 25 25

Randolph Southern 13 22 17