After starting the day with a tough loss, the Manhattan High Lady Indians demonstrated resilience and strong team chemistry to finish their quad on Sept. 11 with two hard-fought wins as they faced Silver Lake, Shawnee Heights and Seaman.
The team played three back-to-back matches, and the challenge of playing multiple matches in one day was not lost on the team.
“It’s very hard when you play three matches, it’s physically grueling, so we usually take it easy,” senior Janie Hilgers said. “The practice before we just are doing serve and receive but focusing on the basics.”
Communication proved crucial when facing different opponents with varying playing styles.
“Mostly just like communicating, like where a block needs to be set up, or just like, who’s hitting, just communicating that so then everyone knows and to be ready for that,” Hilgers said.
Despite the early setback against Silver Lake, the Lady Indians dug deep in their second match against Shawnee Heights. Facing a raucous crowd and trailing by four points in the first set, the team rallied around a key moment.
“It was against Shawnee Heights, which was like the most intense one. And Sophia [Peabody, junior] had a Birthday Ball. It’s like an overpass,” junior Ansley Beckett said. “Once somebody has a good kill, it kind of makes everybody else do the same. So, we get more aggressive.”
The momentum shift energized Manhattan, quieting the opposing crowd.
“We were down by four, and it was just a huge momentum shift. We got them to, like, to be quiet and ‘ooh,’” Hilgers said.
Throughout the day, the team relied heavily on communication and mutual support to navigate physical and mental fatigue.
“When we get in a hole, then it just takes more communication to get out of it,” junior Evie Banks said. “But if the bench cheers us on a lot that also helps.”
The energy of the bench played a vital role in boosting morale during intense moments.
“When the bench has more energy, then it just feeds into the crowd, and then everybody is in a better mood, and the bench is involved,” Banks said.
To conserve energy and maintain consistency, players focused on controlled, efficient movements.
“Just trying to keep it simple and not overdoing movements, because you don’t want to fatigue one part and then rely on other things,” Beckett said. “If you’re swinging too hard, then your arm gets starts to give. Just being consistent throughout everything.”
The team also developed routines to mentally reset between matches, and during breaks, the players regrouped and focused on what lay ahead.
“Usually we stand together and talk, and if there’s fruit or something, always eat fruit. And then just sit for a second and regroup and forget about the last game and move on to what’s ahead of us,” Beckett said.
Looking back on the day, the team recognized their ability to overcome adversity.
“When we’re in holes, we’re very capable of coming back out of them, and we just need to believe in ourselves and not look at the score as much and like, oh, we’re down, but we’re really capable of just coming back,” Beckett said.
Even in moments of frustration, they learned valuable lessons.
“Sometimes we get too aggressive and start hitting everything out,” Hilgers said.
Despite the physical toll, the Lady Indians showed they could rely on one another through the long day “It’s very hard, but we just have to trust each other,” Beckett said.
Following this quad, Manhattan took on Tonganoxie High School and Mill Valley on Sept. 22 at home and will head to Emporia to play Emporia High School and Hayden High School on Sept. 25.
