Warriors looking to make up for lost time

While not unexpected, the lateness of the shakeup certainly isn’t a typical ingredient for success.

Missing nearly a week of preseason practices, the Warriors have been forced to hit the road running this week with contests against the Colonials as well as perennial YAIAA-2 contender West York.

The Bulldogs, who figure to be in the mix to contend for the division title this year, showed little sympathy Thursday when they host Gettysburg. Behind a strong match from Faith Walker, who was a PIAA Class 5-A all-state honoree in basketball last winter, the Bulldogs bested the Warriors in a 25-14, 25-21, 25-15 triumph.

“We got started a week late,” Gettysburg coach Kaitlin Reichart said. “So we didn’t have a preseason scrimmage and our first game was against New Oxford. At this time if you want to count these games as scrimmages, that’s fine even though it’s really not a scrimmage. They do count, but we did start a week behind everybody else.”

Like the season so far, which saw the Warriors drop a 3-1 match to New Oxford, Gettysburg got off to slow starts in all three sets Thursday. Walker was a big reason behind that as the 6-footer boomed 11 kills to go with two aces in the triumph.

While they couldn’t muster a comeback in Set 1, the Warriors did rally late in Set 2, cutting a nine-point deficit to three before ultimately falling.

Reichart pointed to her team’s serve-receive as a catalyst for the early deficits. The Bulldogs were able to get the Gettysburg girls out of system numerous times, forcing errant passes which usually led to West York points

“It all starts with the pass,” Reichart said. “And we have to pick up our serve-receive, execute when we have the pass there and put the ball away.”

Marissa Clapsadle led the attack offensively with nine kills and two aces. Hailey Williams added six kills and two digs while setter Elana Granger, who suffered a leg injury in Set 3, finished with eight assists.

“We have some hitters when they’re on,” Reichart said. “But it all starts with our serve-receive and our passes, which is probably our biggest weakness at this point.”

Reichart is optimistic that her players can make up for the lost time and improve as the season shapes up.

“I’m really proud of all the girls that came out because of the coaching issues, which was a bummer because of all the time they put in over the summer,” she said. “But we’ll have to make up for that time.”