Onekama fends off Walkerville

by Dylan Savela, Manistee News Advocate
September 20, 2011

ONEKAMA — The Portagers watched their Game 4 lead slim and slip away.

Walkerville was rallying, and threatening to send Tuesday’s West Michigan D League match to a fifth and decisive game.

But when Onekama went down 23-21, coach Sherri Slater called a timeout to reemphasize the game-plan.

“We didn’t really talk about anything in particular, we were just having a hard luck pass here, hitting into the net there,” she said. “So with nothing really specific to point to, I just told them to stay aggressive — don’t get timid. Just because you make a mistake and we lose this game, we gave ourselves another game to work with. I’d much rather see the aggressiveness than the hesitancy, and the mistakes that come from that.”

The result? Resilience.

Out of the huddle, the Portagers fought back, took the lead, and hung on for the win, 25-22, 11-25, 25-22, 27-25.

“Every other game, you could see where the momentum was,” Slater said. “It was back and forth. Once our girls got into a groove, though, and were really focused, it was nice to see us not make mistakes.

“Everybody was doing their jobs, and the most important thing when we were having our success was everyone was attacking the ball and making (Walkerville) make the play.”

The Portagers looked strong off the bat, jumping out to a 17-11 lead in Game 1. The Wildcats, however, inched their way back, scoring four of the game’s last five points but eventually falling 25-22.

The second game was all Walkerville after it jumped out to a quick 5-0 advantage. Throughout, the Portagers suffered from self-inflicted errors that helped the Wildcats stay in the driver’s seat.

 “You can just see the difference what happens out there when you get away from that aggressiveness,” Slater said, citing the Game 2 loss. “I know it’s easy for them, when they get a little nervous and the score gets a little closer, to kind of go back into that safe mode. But, you can’t do that. You’ve got to keep attacking because that’s what got you there in the first place.”
With the match knotted at a pair of games apiece, Walkerville looked to carry their momentum to Game 3, jumping out to a 4-0 advantage. However, a five-point serve streak by Onekama’s Anna Brown put the Portagers up 10-8. From there, the teams tied seven times and exchanged leads four times before Onekama eked out the win.

Onekama's Linsey Nesburg and Anna Brown go for a dig. (Dylan Savela, News Advocate photo)

Onekama took the early advantage in the fourth game after Lindsey Nesburg’s six-point streak at the service line gave her team a 12-5 edge. Despite the Wildcats making it interesting with a late lead, the Portagers’ Kelly Koon served up a pair of points to knot the game at 24 before Elizabeth Bergren served up the final two for the win.

“That I guess would be our biggest goal coming out of tonight: for them to realize that win or lose when you’re aggressive more good than bad will come out of it,” Slater said. “Slow starts have kind of been our thing so far this season, so hopefully that consistency can be something we can take to our next match.”

On the night for Onekama, Nicki Slater had 21 assists with four aces while Koon added six kills, two aces and two assists, Brown and Nesburg each had five aces, Jennica Mathieu had five aces and 10 kills and Bergren had seven kills and two assists.

The Onekama junior varsity team topped Walkerville 19-25, 25-12, 15-4.

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