Shekinah wins, advances to district final

By CHRIS MILES

Sports Editor

There were no wasted motions, no useless celebrations following any points, in fact it could be questioned whether or not the Shekinah Christian volleyball team even broke a sweat during a Division IV district semifinal Wednesday at Hilliard Darby.

The second-seeded Flames were every bit as sharp as they were impressive in registering an easy 25-7, 25-8, 25-8 victory over Fairfield Christian Academy, earning the squad a trip to the D-IV district championship match.

Shekinah Christian’s Annelise Roher puts a shot away during the Flames district tournament victory Wednesday.

“Our girls really work hard,” Flames coach Jerry Troyer said. “We have a bunch of seniors on this team, that have really come together. They just love playing the game and love playing with each other.

“It’s just a team and this was a total team effort. We have several outstanding hitter and an outstanding setter but they know without each other they wouldn’t be getting all the kudos and all of the attention they’ve been getting without one another.”

The Flames (21-2) have had a business-like approach to things this season, and considering how things ended last year with a loss in the regional final, the squad is determined to finish what it started.

“We obviously have some high hopes for this year,” Troyer said. “But you still have to play the game. We found out last year, we went to the regional and we thought we were the better team and we choked.

“I’m hoping this year that we’re a little more head strong. We’ve picked up our whole game to another level. We have high hopes of being there at the end this time.”

Helping the squad stay on track is a collection of seniors who suffered through the disappointment of a year ago, having lived through the disappointment can only help in this season’s quest to get to the state final four.

“All that experience is huge,” Troyer said. “It just makes them tougher. They know they messed up last year and they’re using it as a little bit of grit.

“We lost two matches this year, we came out and won the first game in both of those matches but didn’t finish strong, that’s been our war cry. We need to finish strong and finish well.”

The coach insists that if his team is going to achieve the things it has set out to do, it’s going to happen as a result of all-around good play by everyone.

“I think our defense is still the key. For years we always relied on our defense, but now we have some hitters and we still play good defense.

“Our passing is still the key to making everything work. They don’t get all the glory like the hitters or even the setters, but if we don’t get a good pass, we don’t get a good set and we don’t get a good hit.”

With the victory Shekinah Christian advances to the D-IV district championship match where it will meet No. 5 Delaware Christian Saturday at 6 p.m. also at Hilliard Darby.

“A lot of schools would love to be where we’re at right now,” Troyer said. “Our girls need to be respectful of that.”

The winner of the district will advance to the D-IV regional semifinal Oct. 31 at Lancaster High School.”