Blue Devils able to show resiliency despite loss to Maroons in WB6 showdown

QUINCY — Quincy High School volleyball coach Kate Brown found a way to smile despite the disappointing end to a topsy-turvy day.

Watching adversity reveal the Blue Devils’ character made that possible.

First, a knee injury suffered by senior outside hitter Kaley Summers forced Quincy to alter its lineup ahead of Thursday’s Western Big 6 Conference showdown with Moline at the QHS gym. Then, struggles serving and the inability to win a critical point at different junctures of the second set saddled the Blue Devils with a 25-18, 25-21 loss.

It’s the first setback QHS has suffered in conference play and creates anticipation for the Oct. 15 rematch at Moline. The Maroons lead the WB6 standings with a 6-0 record with the Blue Devils at 5-1.

“They found the fire inside of them,” Brown said.

It stokes a burning desire to be resilient.

“We’re going to keep our heads up and be positive about the things wee did well and carry that into our next match and the match after that and the match after that,” senior outside hitter Ayanna Douglas said. “It’s just a game. There’s always the next game we play them.

“There’s always another chance.”

The lineup may be a little more stable by then.

Summers, who has battled to keep her right knee healthy this season, sat out Tuesday’s sweep at Galesburg to give the knee extra time to heal. However, during Thursday’s walk-through, she felt discomfort in the knee and sat on the sideline with her right leg in a brace and moving gingerly on crutches.

It meant the Blue Devils (9-3) had to alter their lineup in a matter of hours, not after days or weeks of practice.

“They came and talked to me about a lineup they felt really comfortable with, and I thought that was really big of them,” Brown said. “I was like, ‘Yeah, you tell me what you want because I want you to feel the most comfortable against a team like this.’ 

“They came up with some really great points on why they wanted this person here or that person there, and I said, ‘OK, we’re going to try it. We’re going to do it.’ They did great. It’s our team. It’s not my team. For them to be able to come and talk to me about it was a big step.”

The adjustments nearly worked.

Despite falling behind 14-9 in the first set before taking a timeout, the Blue Devils got within three points before the Maroons pulled away at the end. In the second set, the Blue Devils had the opportunity to tie the set or take the lead on six separate occasions.

The Blue Devils committed three service errors in that stretch.

“You can’t rally when you miss serves,” Brown said.

Nor can you play with purpose.

“We have to assert ourselves from the beginning the next time we play them,” Douglas said.

Wanting it over needing it should make the difference.

“A bunch of people were saying, ‘We have to win, we have to win,’” Brown said. “But Ayanna Douglas come out and said, ‘We want to win. We have to change that mindset. We want it more than we have to have it.’ And I love that. Their heart was in it.”