Duck Ponderings: Thank You to the 2020 Hauser Volleyball team

The 2020 Hauser Volleyball Season ended on Saturday, October 31st at Jasper High School against Loogootee. However, it will be another season fondly remembered. Much was accomplished including finishing in the Final Four of the IHSAA Class A State Tourney out of many teams.

Due to the navigator, my wife, falling asleep and my lack of attention to our van's GPS, I missed an important turn making a long trip longer and consequently arriving late. A fan shared the Lady Jets got off to a slow start in the first set, got back into it, but ended up losing 19-25. The second set found us getting behind early too, 1-9, before making another comeback and then losing 21-25. The third set started much better with the Jets even having a five point lead at 10-5. I am sure many Hauser fans, like me, were hoping we could pull this set out and then win the next two sets as we did against Indy Lutheran, but it was not to be as Loogootee won 21-25.

Following, you will see some scoring notes for the last two sets with “H” representing Hauser and “L” representing Loogootee:

Set 2
H: 1 5 5 10 11 15 18 21 (Timeouts at 1 and 5)
L: 9 11 14 14 19 19 20 25 (Timeouts at 14 and 20)

Set 3
H: 0 3 7 10 16 18 21 (Timeouts at 16 and 18)
L: 2 2 4 5 13 18 25 (Timeout at 5)

We certainly competed well against another excellent team, a team ranked above us, a team that beat #1 Trinity Lutheran 3-0 to win their regional. Both teams made great plays; the Lions just made a few more. Momentum swings so quickly in volleyball; one team had it and then the other team. Unfortunately, the Lady Jets just could not maintain it in more spurts than Loogootee for any of the three sets. Enough with the analysis! The 2020 Hauser Volleyball Team deserves much thanks for:

• Making it to the Semi-State for the program's 6th time
• Winning the Regional for the program's 6th time after defeating Indy Lutheran 3-2
• Winning the Sectional for the program's 12th time after defeating Greenwood Christian Academy 3-1
• Winning the Conference going undefeated 6-0, increasing the program's double-digit number
• Winning the Henryville Tourney and finishing runner-up in the Heritage Days Classic
• Winning 22 matches, joining many Hauser teams to win over 20
• A special spirit displayed by all players whether on the court or on the bench
• Celebrating in the right way while including some unexpected but appreciative people in team photos
• Several players establishing individual records but always realizing it can't happen without others
• Devoting much time and effort to a great sport likely starting years ago
• Learning the importance of time management when leaving early for an away game and returning late only to spend several hours on homework
• Making it through a season with the constant stress of the coronavirus
• Dealing with some extremely difficult life events involving classmates at the beginning of two seasons: the death of Sarah Taylor, the accident involving Sarah Vanderlind, Erin Newcomb, Veronica McKinney, John Bragg, and the death of Trevor Frazee
• Bringing us even more together as a community and family

Like volleyball, life is full of twists and turns and ups and downs. We thank each of you for all the wonderful memories and wish the seniors, Marnie Schwartzkopf, Aunaka Wasil, Hannah Johnson, and Sophia Musillami, the very best for the rest of this school year and beyond.