By By BRIAN HAINES
Sports Writer
By BRIAN HAINES
Sports Writer
After three years of close calls and near misses, the Pam Pack volleyball team finally broke its three-year long losing streak on Tuesday as it topped West Craven in its Coastal Conference opener 25-16, 25-11, 15-25, 25-21.
Washington entered Tuesday’s contest having lost every game and match it has played this season, but on Tuesday third-year coach Tara Hunter’s crew used team work and determination to finally spike the streak.
“It doesn’t get any better than this,” Hunter said after winning her first game as the Pam Pack’s head coach. “We had a rough start to the season with our non-conference games, but tonight we came out with a sense of urgency. We had a completely different team tonight; they looked great. I have never seen them play that well. If we play like that all year we’ll be unstoppable.”
In the past communication and rotation have been key issues on the court for Washington, but on Tuesday the crew got in sync.
“They were constantly talking to one another keeping their spirits up,” Hunter said. “They really hit the ball and I think we finally got the idea of rotation. We finally clicked. Everybody knew were to go and where they were supposed to be. We covered the ball and kept our eyes on the ball; we were just all over it.”
The Pam Pack came out and got to the Vikings early as it won the first game 25-16. Hunter said she was thrilled but had to fight off the urge to start counting chickens.
“I want to say I felt like we would win, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up because we started off strong and were playing great. I just wanted to wait till the fat lady sings,” Hunter said. “We started off strong and I felt if we could keep it up for the next three games we would get that win.”
Hunter got great play from net players Robin Lilley, Haley Hiatt, Jazzmin Gibbs, as well as Michelle Hodges, Lalie Anglim, Sarah Nicholls, Sydney Gurkin and Hannah Sandy.
“Jazzmin had a great game at the net, she was all over the ball and had seven kills,” Hunter said. “Michelle ended up with eight assists and Haley was very consistent and had a smart game. She had 14 service points. Sarah also had a great game, she had 19 digs. she did a great job in the back row.”
For players seniors like Lilley and Hiatt, who have suffered through some rough seasons, the day could not have been any sweeter.
“The girls were unbelievably excited,” Hunter said. “A lot of them haven’t won in three or four years because of having different coaches and getting used to new techniques and things like that. But I have been telling them how good they can be and I think they finally believed that tonight.”
The Pam Pack, whose JV team picked up a 25-22, 25-21 win on Tuesday as well, will look to start a new streak today, as the team will travel to Coastal Conference foe Jacksonville.