By Brant Daughtry
Great Bend Post Sports
Ellinwood volleyball made an undefeated run to a state title last year, winning 47 straight matches en route to the program's first state title. This year, the team is doing the same, running the table as the number 1 team in 2A headed to substate matchups.
The Eagles entered the season with the 5th longest streak in the country and have seen the other teams at the top of the list slowly drop, until last week, they took over as the longest active winning streak in America for high school volleyball at 87 straight victories. Head coach Greg Maxwell says that pressure has been settling in since the start of the season, and the team has responded well.
"That's one thing we talked about here about a month ago. These girls set the standard they wanted to be undefeated state champions again. And as that winning streak grew... When you put the statement out, you're going to go undefeated. I looked at them and I said 'You're feeling pressure, and there's nothing we can do about that. You have to embrace it, you have to learn from it, and you can't hide from it. There's nothing I can say to relieve the pressure.'
"I kind of like that for them, because it's forced them to work a little bit harder and push themselves a little bit more, just because it's naturally there, and it's been fun to see how they've responded to that."
Ellinwood will host substate this Saturday, facing off first against Republic County, and the pressure only builds in these win-or-go-home scenarios. Senior Alvia Bachman says though, that the Lady Eagles perform even better under pressure, and coach Maxwell agreed that the team has increased its energy for playoff time.
"I think we like the pressure." Said Bachman. "I think we perform higher during the postseason. We're very excited to be in the postseason, we've been talking about the postseason literally since the beginning of the season. I think we're all excited and ready to be here. We've prepared well for it."
Coach Maxwell backed up his senior.
"The girls are definitely more alive this week. It's started to feel more real. Like she said, throughout the season, they love playing, they love winning, they show up every day and I love that about them. But it's just a little different now. That's one thing I always remind them of is, you're playing teams that are fighting for their life now. You're playing seniors that are going out and they want to do something special and make something of their season.
"We anticipate to get everyone's best shot and we want everyone's best shot. In some cases we see teams play at a level we didn't expect, and that's great for us. We want that every time we can get that challenge."
Ellinwood will host substate on Saturday.