The Great Lakes-Quicksilver 17 team is (back row, left to right) Head Coach Jayme Plummer, Rachel Switalski, Nicole Niemi, Allison Palmer, Assistant Coach Jeff Harrah; (front row, left to right) Amanda Balasko, Ari Prinzbach, Melanie Smith, Katie Dilger, Amanda Sawicki, Rachel Gulasey and Monica Daar. (Photo courtesy of Mike Balasko)

Great Lakes-Quicksilver squad takes third in Dallas
By Jim Horvath
Sports
Published July 16, 2008

If one ever doubted the power of teamwork, the Great Lakes-Quicksilver 17 volleyball team would be quick to put that doubt to rest.

The Junior Olympic volleyball club, based in Westlake, finished third out of 48 teams in the American Division of the USA Volleyball National Championships in Dallas, Texas earlier this month.

The team included players from throughout the Cleveland area and included a pair of seniors from the Westshore. Amanda Balasko of North Olmsted High School was an outside hitter for the team, while Magnificat’s Rachel Gulasey was the team’s setter and ran the team’s 5-1 offense.

Leading the team was head coach Jayme Plummer, the program’s co-director and an assistant coach at Cleveland State University. Plummer was quick to point out how teamwork made all the difference for his undersized squad, which had no player over 6-0.

“It was never about one girl. It was always about the team,” said Plummer last weekend. “That’s how this team was able to get as far as it did.”

The team qualified for nationals, then shook off a slow start to win their pool and finish 8-3. Great Lakes-Quicksilver then defeated Wisconsin Select 22-25, 25-22, 16-14 in the quarterfinals before taking on the Woodlands Stars, a team out of Dallas. The Stars prevailed in a hard-fought match 25-22, 25-23 and went on to win the tournament with an easy 25-15, 25-20 win over IPVA.

“After seeing what the Dallas team did in the finals, our girls felt like their match with them should have been the championship match,” said Plummer. “We told them they couldn’t look at it that way, that they had their chance.

“We came up a little short, but I think once the girls realized what they had accomplished they felt better about it. This was a pretty big accomplishment for them because they had never gone this far,” he said.

But through it all, Plummer said it was all about the team’s attitude.

“From the beginning, our goal was to reach nationals,” said Plummer. “But we really didn’t have any one player who you would consider a super star. There’s nobody on our roster who you would say ‘wow, she’s a Division I player all the way.’

“We had a group of girls who were solid players, who were all about the team. If one of them was having a bad day, the others would step it up and elevate their game. They had a great work ethic and were very competitive, and that really helped us when we faced some of the bigger teams down in Dallas,” he said.

Great Lakes-Quicksilver, according to Plummer, was one of the smallest teams in the American Division. In a game where height counts in a big way, the smaller Westlake squad made up for its lack of it with tenacious defense.

“We had no girls above 6-0, so we had to out-hustle, out-work and out-defense the bigger teams we faced,” said Plummer. “The girls went into Dallas excited to play, but we got off to a slow start and had to regroup. We weren’t doing the things we needed to do at that point.

“The girls turned things around mentally, and they focused on one point at a time. The next team we faced, you could just tell their coaches felt they were going to just walk onto the court and win. They were a lot bigger than us, and they thought they had it, that they easily had us beat.

“Well, we won the match. After that, we played well the rest of the way,” he said.

Balasko was the team captain and was one of the team’s vocal leaders, according to Plummer. “She always stayed positive, no matter what the situation, and always communicated well with her teammates.”

Gulasey, said Plummer, led by example. “She led us by how she played. She’s by far one of the most competitive players I’ve ever coached. Whenever a point was scored on her, she took it personally.”

Gulasey caught the eyes of others besides her coach. She was named to the all-tournament team, along with teammate Amanda Sawicki of Mentor, one of the team’s outside hitters. Balasko, just missed making the squad, as did Lakewood’s Nicole Niemi, who played the right side.

“It really was a team effort,” said Plummer. “It was never like one girl carried us. We played so well down there. We were clicking on all cylinders, so I think it was a great experience for everybody.”