Senators take first regional

Updated: October 25, 2011 11:11PM

VALPARAISO —  For the remainder of the Class 1A volleyball teams after Tuesday’s regionals, there’s something valuable to note about the low-profile attackers at Washington Township.

They’re not to be overlooked.

“I know that people underestimate the rest of us and I know that’s when we step up and kill them,” said senior Kerry Uhrina after an historic night for the Senators.

Against the same No. 2 Pioneer team that swept them in the past two regionals, the host Senators redeemed themselves with a 3-1 win at Dold Gymnasium. The 25-19, 25-14, 11-25, 25-19 scores led to the first regional crown in program history.

And while usual kill specialist Vickie Flanders posted another big showing (leading the Senators with 13 kills) the pounding thwacks didn’t stop with her. Flander’s classmate, Uhrina, also provided a crucial 11 kills, including the clinching shot along the left side of the court.

“I told them if we swing, we win,” Washington coach Scott Campbell said. “If we get in a tipping battle with them, we lose.”

Campbell wanted everyone to slash, especially Uhrina.

“We wanted her to swing as hard as you can, instead of finesse with it,” he said.

The Senators jumped out relatively fast with back-to-back wins, before faltering on serve receptions in the third game. In the finale, though, the Panthers (30-6) were held to brief two-point runs. Amid an expressive home crowd, Uhrina (who also had two aces and four blocks) halted the last Pioneer streak with the deciding kill. 

“I think it was everything together,” Uhrina said of the moment, which resulted in a school record 32-5 mark. “I think we were one point away from winning the regionals and we wanted it bad.”

Pioneer’s Gabriel Dunlap provided 10 kills. 

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