Volleyball season ends in district loss to St. Ursula but Lady Giants’ future remains bright

TOLEDO – Sometimes progress can’t be measured by scores.

If that were the case, then one might look at the score of the Ross volleyball team’s district match against St. Ursula and wonder why it’s more lopsided than the regular season match early last month.

But what Saturday’s 9-25, 11-25, 8-25 season-ending district loss, doesn’t reflect is how far the Lady Giants have come since the summer, nor does it show how well Ross actually played Saturday.

“We played aggressive defense we did well on serve-receive, we took our big swings, we attempted our roll shots and those little things we’ve been working on to execute,” said coach Kari Shull. “They were just a solid team on the other side of the net. I literally can only remember them making one mistake of hitting the ball out. St. Ursula was on fire today. They’re very tall, they’re very powerful and they earned their points.”

AnneMaries Moses had 30 passes Saturday along with eight digs while Lindsay Weickert had 16 passes and nine digs. Olivia Baptista had nine passes and a team-high 10 digs.

Jazmin Bulger had three blocks and Olivia DeRodes added two. Izzy Held had five digs and Sara Hrynciw had four.

The Lady Giants end their season with a 6-18 overall record but also possess a greater knowledge of the game and a sense of direction for where the program is heading in the future.

“We talked to them about the big picture and how much growth and they’re starting to build that legacy and getting those building blocks in and that’s where we are,” Shull said. “I’m very encouraged. I’m excited to see the growth that happens, the amount of girls, freshmen all the way to the seniors, have bought in, even the seventh- and eighth-grade girls have bought in, so we have a lot of really good things happening. It just takes time.”

While the Lady Giants believe they are on track for future success, they’ll have to continue that process without seniors, Bulger, Weickert, Maddison Baacke and Aliza Quick.

“Jazmin Bulger, we’re definitely losing some height and speed in the middle and athleticism there,” Shull said. “She’s an asset to us both in blocking and in swinging and she’s able to go all the around sometimes, we’ve asked that of her.

“With Lindsay Weickert, having a utility player, she’s had to swing outside for us, she’s had to swing right side for us, she’s has been a libero and dug up some amazing balls out of the back row. I think I’m definitely losing two key players in that and I’m also losing leadership between the two of them.”

Shull, concluding her first season as coach of the program having come to Fremont from the Columbus area, has been impressed by her players’ willingness to listen and do what’s been asked of them.

“A lot of parents have come up and thanked me for my positivity coaching because they’ve seen the growth in the kids. And that’s all fine and dandy and I appreciate it, but at the end of the day it all comes down to the kids,” Shull said. “They have to choose to believe, they have to choose to do. When parents talk about how much these kids have grown, yeah, I guess I brought some knowledge, but the kids bought in.

“At the end of the day, it’s about the kids for me, it’s always about the kids. And I’m super excited and proud in where they’ve gotten themselves, because they did choose to believe and they did choose to change some of their habits. They chose to buy in and they chose to make a difference and grow. For that, I’m really super proud of this program.”