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Woodland VB hopes tough schedule, close losses preps it for postseason
With a season record of 14 wins and just as many defeats, the Woodland High School volleyball squad can’t claim to have a winning season today. However, one would be hard-pressed to state that the Cardinals have not been successful.
Of those 14 losses, nine have been in matches that Woodland won at least one set while five have been defeats in five-set thrillers.
“We have struggled with finishing,” Cardinal coach Emily Johnson said recently. “Even if we went five sets, we have often come up short.”
That wasn’t the case on Monday in Woodland’s final regular season match against Bernie.
The Cardinals knocked off the Mules in five sets. That win coupled with a 3-0 victory over an 18-win Bell City team in the third-place match of the recent Stoddard County Athletic Association Tournament, should give Johnson’s kids some positive mojo heading into tonight’s postseason test against Kelly.
The No. 3-seed Cardinals will face the No. 6-seed Hawks (2-26) today at 6 p.m. in the first round of the MSHSAA Class 2 District 2 Tournament at Scott City High School.
Johnson has had to guide her group through growing pains this fall, as she regularly plays just two seniors (Mallary Barks and Layla Wiseman).
“At times,” Johnson explained, “we have three freshmen and two sophomores on the floor.”
Woodland has three seniors, including libero Carrie Long, but Wiseman has battled a knee injury and Long has been out with a concussion.
“We are young,” Johnson said, “but our freshman (Ella Cook) has stepped in at (libero) and done an excellent job.
“I hope we can work on being more mentally tough and finishing well.”
The Cardinals fell 3-0 in the SCAA Tournament semifinal round to an 18-win Advance squad but led at times throughout the match.
“Volleyball is such a game with momentum,” Johnson said. “We had some excellent rallies.”
The Cardinals also rely on freshmen Dezi Braswell and Azriel Nance, and sophomores Makayla Altenthal and Addy Massa in the regular lineup while junior Cadence Merrell can also contribute.
“We have always talked about how we’re in a competitive conference,” Johnson said, “but that is good. We want to keep that high level of play all season. That is what you want on your schedule.”
The winner of the Cardinals vs. Hawks match will advance to play No. 2-seed St. Vincent (18-8-5) on Thursday at 6 p.m.
Puxico (11-15-1) is the No. 4 seed and will play No. 5-seed Charleston (3-24) today at 4:30 p.m. with the winner moving on to face top seed Scott City (20-10-3) on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.