Whip-Purs' seniors can be proud of silver for a long time
NORMAL -- Silver medals aren't gold but they are precious nonetheless.
With silver medallions draped from their necks following their runner-up finish in Saturday's Class 2A state girls volleyball title match, Hampshire seniors Amber Ladwig, Jen Kondrat, Jena Karkos, Jackie Clai and Kim Kartheiser flanked coach Karen Whitehouse at the media interview table deep within the bowels of Redbird Arena, their tears not yet completely dried in the wake of Breese Central's 25-17, 19-25, 25-21 victory.
Yes, the Whips were disappointed after losing the biggest match of their lives in dramatic fashion, but these intelligent young women were quickly able to put losing the championship match in perspective.
"To have our last game be on the Illinois State court in the championship match is a great feeling," Karkos said. "Nobody can be ashamed of getting second because it's just as good as getting first. It was such a good game. I think it really brought us together. I mean, it's sad because we won't be together next year, but it brought us closer."
It's hard to imagine this team could get any closer after 81 matches together over two seasons, but playing in big matches in big arenas with big consequences tends to have a bonding affect.
"I've never experienced anything like this," Kartheiser said of the postseason run to Normal. "It's an awesome experience I'll never forget.
"I'm not disappointed in my team. We played amazing. I'm just more upset that this is the last time I'll be playing with all these girls."
The senior trailblazers responsible for getting Hampshire's volleyball program downstate for the first time broke through previously insurmountable barriers by winning sectional and supersectional titles for the first time. Their state semifinal victory over Chicago Christian on Friday extended the Whips' late-season winning streak to 10 games.
"Our seniors are, obviously, irreplaceable," said Whitehouse, Hampshire's third-year coach. "They're a great group and they meant so much to this team and so much to this program. They were the ones that allowed the change when I came in. They were OK with it and handled it. They'll be missed. They're a great group.
"And for the seniors what a nice way to leave your mark on Hampshire volleyball, to leave and graduate being the first team to ever make it down here and take second in the state."
Next year the Whips will sport a very different look, including a jump to Class 3A when the school's enrollment doubles in the fall. With Ladwig, Kondrat, Karkos, Clai and Kartheiser gone, five key positions will be filled by new faces. Two won't.
Fortunately for Whitehouse, the two returners will be setter Kara Wehrs and her twin sister Amy, an outside hitter who led the team in kills this season and finished with 13 kills in her first state title match appearance. Talk about a solid nucleus around which to build.
Whitehouse doesn't expect Saturday to be the only appearance in a title match the Wehrs twins make.
"I look forward to next year," she said. "And, hopefully, when we get here next year it will be a different outcome now that we've got our first state game out of the way."
Notice how Whitehouse said when we get her next year. Not if. She intends to make visits to Normal habitual.
And why not think big? Hampshire will have a roster fortified by a sophomore team that went undefeated in winning the Big Northern Conference's Eastern Division. The freshman team won 75 percent of its matches, too, athletic director Dave Hicks said.
"We're going to have a lot of new players coming up next year, so it's definitely going to be a rebuilding year," Kara Wehrs said. "But we're really excited for that chance."
But that's next year. For now the Whips should kick back, unwind after a long, successful campaign and savor the feeling of silver, a tangible reminder of a precious season.