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Coaches are known for being able to give "the look."
"The look" might be stern as in you can do better. It might be joyous as in great effort or great win.
But for Barneveld's Kevin Knudson "the look" last Thursday was one of disbelief.
North Crawford shocked the number one seeded Golden Eagles with three straight wins in the final three games of a five game set in WIAA Division 4 Regional volleyball play. The 3-2 decision ended the season for the Golden Eagles.
"I thought we would of been playing for awhile," a dejected Knudson said. "So, seeing the season end made this one of my tougher losses of in my whole coaching career. To walk into a locker room of crying girls and not really knowing what to say to the girls about what just happen isn't always easy."
Knudson knows sometimes the outcome can make no sense.
"That's why we play the game," he said. "On some nights, the best team doesn't always come out on top. No disrespect to North crawford, but I still believe we were the better team. But on that night it wasn't meant to be."
He said it was hard to comfort the girls.
"Trying to say something to make them feel better, sometimes words just don't do it," Knudson said. "For me at least, when the dust settles, we can look back on the season and be pretty proud of what we accomplished. We ended the season with a 21-5 record. 11-1 in conference - first conference championship since 2000. We received the #1 seed, first time ever. and were ranked throughout the season as high as fifth to ninth in the state. I had 4 girls name to the all-Conference team and am very proud of them."
Honored were Rachel Slaney, First Team and Player of the Year. Samantha Evans, First Team; Danielle Straubhaar second Team and Madi Laube, Honorable Mention.
"When I add up the stats, it is very impressive of how well the girls did individually and as a team," Knudson said. He added that Slaney's honors were very good for a sophomore.
North Crawford won the series 27-25 25-13, 23-25 20-25 11-15.
For the Eagles, Rachel Slaney had 23 kills, Danielle Straubhaar 30 assists and 19 service points. Madi Laube had 17 service points while Taylor Owens added 14 while serving 3 aces.
Samantha Evans recorded five blocks while the digs leaders were Straubhaar with 20 and Taylor Owens with 19
"One impressive stat is we only had two serve errors in the five games," Knudson said. "Stats wise, we out played North Crawford by a lot, but the final score is what really counts."
"Game one was a great game," Knudson said. "It went back and forth. The game was tied at 20-20 and both teams at that point were determined not to lose. At 24-25 Crawford had serve and game point on the line. We were able to receive serve and set the ball up for a kill to tie the game. Danielle Straubhaar was up to serve, got the next two over and we ended the match with a kill by Rachel Slaney to take game one."
"Like any play-off game, it's a new season and the records are thrown out the window," Knudson said. "Going into game two I believe the girls woke up and realized they had a match. Game two was night and day from game one. We came out grabbed the lead 8-2 and never looked back. The girls really stepped up and dominated game two."
"With a two game lead, in my wildest dreams, I never thought the final outcome would be what it turned out to be," Knudson said. "Going into the game, knowing it was play-off time, I thought if we would happen to lose, there's no way we would lose three in a row with the way we were playing. Game three was in our control throughout the match until the end. We lead 9-3, 15-9 and 23-20. North Crawford called time out at 23-20. I told the girls we only needed two more points, we had the serve, let's go get it done so we can play and host the Regional Championship. By the look of the girls eyes, I would bet it was over."
But that didn't happen.
"Well, it's not over until the fat lady sings. I don't know what happened," Knudson said. "I am still trying to figure that out. North Crawford rattled of five straight points and won 25-23. At that point I told the girls we were fine, just gather yourselves and go out and play like your capable of and we will win."
Again, it was not meant to be.
"Volleyball being a game of momentums, North Crawford carried it over to game four," Knudson said. "Game four was another game that went back and forth with Barneveld leading most of the game. We led 17-13 at one point, but just couldn't end it and lost 23-25."
"Game five started out going back and forth, point by point. At 10-9 and the serve, I was thinking if we can just get up two, we should be ok," Knudson said. "In a game to 15, a two point lead is hard to come back on. We lost the serve, so the game is now tied at 10-10. North Crawford jumps out to a 13-11 lead. Now you can see the pressure mounting and the momentum on their side."
"We had some nice hits, but Crawford kept digging the ball up," Knudson said. "They ended up scoring the next two points to end the match and upset the Eagles. The gym went from being loud to dead silence, knowing that the season was over."
"I believe and the stats show, we played one of our best matches and still lost. If I could figure out what happened, I would write a book. The girls were very sad and disappointed, as the goals they had set, were no longer in reach," Knudson said.
"I would like to Thank my four seniors for a rememberable year," Knudson said. "They include four year letter winner Madi Laube, Brooke Eno, Lexi Bahr and Nicole Brown. Also a big thank you to the rest of the team for a great season and they have a lot to look forward too, as we will return five starters. I would also like to thank the parents and fan for coming out and supporting the girls all year."