Published: October 31, 2009 11:36 pm      

Mustangs stumble in Class A semifinals

New Wash swept by Tecumseh

New Washington spent the whole day attempting to get over the proverbial hump.

In the end, playing catch up never worked out for the Mustangs as they fell in the semifinal of the Class A Barr-Reeve Sectional on Saturday to Tecumseh, 25-23, 25-23, 25-19.

“In a match where the scores seem close I think if I remember correctly we held one lead the entire day,” said New Washington head coach Gary Graham. “We spent the entire day playing from behind. We’d have good periods of play where we could come back and then an untimely error would lead to our undoing.”

New Wash senior Lindsey Krohn wrapped up her career as a Mustang in fine fashion, notching 19 kills and 11 digs in the match. Casey Johnson totaled six aces on the day for the Mustangs, who finished the year with a record of 19-14.

“(Tecumseh) to their credit is better this year than we have seen them in the past,” said Graham. “They were a good attacking team but I don’t think that ended up the difference. Our mistakes, namely service mistakes, were critical errors.”

Graham said he was proud of his team, which accomplished its third consecutive Class A Sectional win and fell one win shy of a 20-win season. He was particularly proud of his five-player senior class of Krohn, Kala Dieterlen, Hannah Seals, Charissa Brewer and Kayla Shackelford and commended them their careers with the Mustangs.

“I’m really proud of the job that they did throughout the year,” Graham said. “We have very big holes to fill,” Graham said. “Leadership and skill-wise the contribution of this class can not be understated.”