SPRING HILL – Thanks to Jennifer Aten, Springstead’s volleyball team can feel pretty good about its future. On Wednesday night, she helped make the Lady Eagles feel a lot better about their present.
The sophomore outside hitter notched 17 kills for the hosts, who collected their first win of the season while defeating county-rival Nature Coast, 25-21, 25-15, 25-15.
“It was a huge win for us, cause they’re our rival school. It was just huge,” Aten said. “I think we played really well. I think we really connected as a team and we all played our hearts out, and just came together really well.
“We’ve just been getting better and better as the season’s been going on. We’re just getting better and better every single game.”
Springstead (1-3), which lost in three games at Nature Coast (2-3) on Aug. 24, was struggling with the Lady Sharks again midway through the first game of this one. After Madison Clark served five straight points, the visitors held a 13-10 lead and forced the Lady Eagles to call a timeout.
Momentum swung from there, as Springstead eventually went in front 17-15 on an ace by Haley Jessings. Three points served by Elise Crowell made it 21-17, and the Lady Eagles were in control.
Libero Alondra Rodriguez, who missed the first meeting with Nature Coast, served six straight points including three consecutive aces to build a 13-7 advantage in the second. Crowell nearly finished it off with six service points in a row featuring three aces that made it 24-14.
Alexis Thompson served five points to open up an 18-10 edge in the third, plenty of cushion for the Lady Eagles to pull away.
“This is what I was expecting. This is them coming together as a team,” Springstead head coach Kaitlin Wadsworth said. “I am super excited. They are all excited. This is just them working together, which is what I’ve been telling them to do.
“They were communicating, talking. They were hitting, they were executing. We always talk about fundamentals. You always need to make sure that you’re executing. So that’s one thing that we do strive for, making sure it’s a repetition. You don’t want to make little mistakes, but you want to work together as a team. Trusting your teammates to get the ball when you’re doing this and you’re going to execute at your position. And that’s what they did tonight.”
Aside from Aten, Thompson tallied seven kills, while Jessings and Rodriguez each had four aces. Crowell chipped in 33 assists.
It was a feisty crowd on both sides, perhaps generating extra enthusiasm in anticipation of Friday’s football game between the two schools. In fact, at the end of the match the home fans began chanting, “Next is football!”
“It just makes our adrenaline get better and better,” Aten said. “We work harder as a team, too, because we know we have the crowd behind us, and we’re working to prove to their crowd that we’re working hard, too.”
So far Aten has 58 kills on the season, recording no less than 12 in any one match. She also served five aces apiece in the previous two contests versus Weeki Wachee and Sunlake, and has 13 overall.
“She’s been playing great. This is my second year with her. She’s learning as we go. She is a great player,” Wadsworth said. “I cannot wait to see what she does in the future, just building on what she’s learning. She is an excellent player.
“Hitting (has been good for Aten); understanding her position and what her role is on the team. Understanding when she’s in front she has to execute at her position of hitting, but when she’s in the back she has to execute her position of defending, making sure she’s covering where she’s supposed to be.”
Not that her performance has been a surprise. As a freshman she paced the team with 136 kills and is certainly developing into a cornerstone for the Lady Eagles.
“I think I’ve improved dramatically from the first game (this season) to now, with errors and everything,” Aten said. “I believe I’m a better hitter now (than as a freshman) and I’m better on defense. I can get to balls that I couldn’t get last year. … I feel like I have confidence now. I’m not nervous when I hear the crowd anymore. I just kind of go with it.
“I think our goals is to make it through districts and go further from there. … I’d like to have a good hitting percentage, keep the team pumped up and everything. Just do both.”
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.