- November 23, 2024
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Covering Senior Nights are some of the best parts of this job.
Cardinal Mooney High volleyball’s Senior Night, on Oct. 9, exemplified this for me. It was the best because it was genuine. The three Cougar seniors, Sophia Hebda, Dalton Judge and Kali Plattner, waltzed into the gym pregame, accompanied by their parents, as teammates told stories about them. The stories ranged from eating chicken nuggets in cars late at night to helping them become better players. It was emotional.
Then coach Chad Sutton spoke, telling of each girl’s accomplishment and growth. He made it about three sentences before his voice wavered. I could see the reflection of the lights glimmering off every pair of eyes in the gym, for they had filled with tears. Mine included.
I loved everything about the moment. I’ve covered three seasons of Mooney volleyball now. I don’t know Hebda, Judge and Plattner that well, aside from talking to them occasionally after matches. But I’ve seen them and the program grow under Sutton. He told me this group was “special” and said they mean everything to the Cougars present and future success. Watching the pregame ceremony, it was evident Sutton is invested his players.
And isn’t that what high school sports are all about? We focus on winning (and I’ll get to that in a second), but the most important thing sports will provide graduates is the memories, both on and off the court. Coaches challenge them so they know they can achieve great things. It’s telling that the only people crying harder than the seniors and Sutton were the parents.
They are successful, by the way. Mooney entered Senior Night with a 16-7 record, and they play a difficult schedule. They hadn’t lost since Sept. 14. The Cougars opponents that night, the Riverview High Rams, are also talented and entered with a 17-5 record. Could the Class 5A private school take down the Class 8A public school?
The first set was close, but Riverview took it 26-24. Mooney came out scorching in the second, though, and took it 25-17. It was a brand new match.
The Cougars couldn’t carry momentum from that set into the third. The Rams dominated the net and flipped the previous set’s score, winning 25-17. Mooney was out of breathing room. It was win the next two sets, or send its seniors home losers. When Mooney found itself down five points late in the fourth set, there was only one real option.
“I called timeout and I didn’t let them sit down,” Sutton said. “We all stood together. I told them, ‘Look, we love you. This is the kind of moment you want. This is the kind of moment you deserve. If we couldn’t do it in three, then how about pushing it to five? Let’s make this thing magical.’
“When you believe in them and they believe in you, special stuff like this happens.”
Led by their seniors, the Cougars stormed back. A Madison Brown ace gave them the set, 26-24. The fifth and final set, played to 15 instead of 25, saw Mooney pull away at the end. Plattner had five of her 18 kills during it.
“Homegirl showed up tonight,” Sutton said of Plattner. “What a stud.”
Every point win was treated like life or death. When the Cougars took match point, the gym exploded like the crowd at a rock concert. I cover both teams, and I wasn’t rooting, but it was hard not to smile watching Mooney scream their lungs out. I don’t know if I’ve heard a louder gym.
I didn’t go to Mooney that night in search of a column, just a photo gallery. But the perseverance of the Cougars inspired me to write a bit more. The win was the perfect cap on an unbelievable Senior Night. I bet Hebda, Judge and Plattner will never forget it.
The Cougars — and the Rams — are in the midst of their district tournament as of this writing. If they keep winning, they’ll play in regional tournaments next week, locations to be determined. I’d advise area fans to support both teams. They aren’t in the same classification, so there’s no harm in pulling for both schools. Based on the effort on display when they played, they both deserve your support.
