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Finding Their Bite

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By EDDIE DANIELS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 2, 2007

HUDSON - There is this figurative ladder that has hung around the Hudson volleyball team this season.

It wasn't long before the Cobras approached the ladder, promptly ascending to the top. The squad won its first six contests, but Sept. 11 brought on a series of events that haven't taken place in quite some time for Hudson.

That night, Zephyrhills escaped Hudson's gym with a 25-22, 25-22, 25-23 victory. That sent the squad into a quick descent.

Hudson, which has toppled opponents, winning eight district titles in nine years, lost three of four matches in a nine-day span.

In its first game following the Zephyrhills loss, the Cobras took another defeat, this time to River Ridge. They bounced back with a victory against Gulf five days later, but lost again in its next match to Brooksville Nature Coast.

'Every week is a new week,' Hudson coach Linda McQuade said. 'We put what we've done in the past, we move on to try and move ahead and be successful. I think we have the personnel to do that with, it's just they have to believe in what they're doing. They've been working really hard.'

The hard work came to fruition Sept. 24 at home against Mitchell. Hudson (10-3) collected a 19-25, 26-24, 25-15, 25-19 victory against a talented Mustangs squad that entered winning eight of 11 matches.

'Mitchell was good. They beat Zephyrhills, who we lost to,' Hudson senior outside hitter Lara Metz said. 'They did really good, but we just had to pick it up and win this game because we didn't want to lose four.'

In the past, Hudson could step onto the court and automatically be spotted five points due to intimidation alone. It's something the team's seniors are used to.

Metz, Mary Cook, Danielle Fenimore, Paige Lake, Kelsey Russo and Lauren Stump were freshmen when the squad entered the playoffs 19-0 and bullied through the competition to the 2004 Class 4A state semifinals in Lakeland.

'I think we went into games this season like, 'We're Hudson, we'll win it,'' Metz admitted. 'But we had a lot of competition this year. We didn't expect that much competition. Hopefully we're over that hump we had.'

Thus far, it appears that rough patch has been smoothed over. The Cobras have won three consecutive matches since its last loss Sept. 20. The next task comes when the team travels to Fort Lauderdale to participate in the Cardinal Gibbons tournament.

For years McQuade has been known for her motivators and this season is no different. Following the Mitchell victory, Metz, Cook and Stump were awarded with bottles of All laundry detergent.

'We had to give it our all,' Metz said.

It's mind games like that McQuade will likely continue to use, seeing how she isn't ready for her squad to take steps backward on that proverbial ladder.

'We've been working. We've been really working, so we're not going to be so easy any more,' McQuade joked. 'You have to look at my situation. You take six seniors, they went to the final four when they were freshmen, so what kind of bone is there for them? Where's the brass ring? They saw it already. They didn't win, but they saw it.

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