.jpg)
Hello, everyone and welcome back to the Huddle where this week we will be taking a look at the Weimar Ladycats.
Their season ended rather abruptly in the second round of the playoffs to Burton, but let’s not reopen old wounds.
Instead, let’s do what all teams do when their season comes to an end and look towards the future. Of the Ladycats. Let’s start out with the most glaring difference in their future and that is the graduating seniors.
Now every team has to deal with graduating seniors, and the Ladycats are no different. The likes of Madison Luckey, Cheyenne Booker, Jaiya Cook, Janiyah Cooper and Kylie Ohnheiser are all graduating seniors this year.
Now, after covering the team this season, I can see, and fans can see that those are some big-time names leaving the team. These ladies’ presence will be missed not only on the court but amongst the team.
They did not just produce on the court, but they led while on and off court and provided stability to a rather young roster. That benefits them because these ladies showed the underclassmen on the team what it means to take pride in being a Ladycat.
They showed them how to manage the highs and lows of a season and how to come together as a team. The underclassmen on the team absorbed all the information from the senior leadership like sponges to carry the next chapter of Ladycat volleyball.
On top of that Ladycats Head Coach Amanda Machicek was not scared to throw her young players into key situations. She showed them that they have her trust already; they just have to continue to step up and elevate their game each week.
But playing those young players in key situations also benefits the underclassmen because, experience is the best teacher. Nothing prepares an athlete more than being thrust into a key situation in a game and having them experience what the speed, intensity and pressure is like at the varsity level.
So, yes, the Ladycats are losing some really talented players to graduation, but they have already laid out the groundwork to set themselves up for a bright future.
