HOBART | You'd think losing 10 players from a semistate team would cripple a team, but that is not the case with the squad from 5959 Broadway.
On a roster with just three seniors in 2012, 59ers coach Julie Wiejak shuffled and mixed and matched some of her current sophomores, juniors, and seniors on a JV team that went 25-4 last season.
That theory seems to be paying off, as the Times No. 6 59ers moved into second place in the Northwest Crossroads Conference by themselves in Monday night's win over Hobart 25-12, 26-24, 25-19.
"It's not smart to have them sit behind 10 seniors, so now they know how to pick each other up," said Wiejak.
After the first eight points, the first set was tied at 4-4, but the next nine points went to Andrean (15-4, 5-1 NCC) thanks to seven combined kills by junior outside hitters Kellie Wojciechowski and Marija Nicksic.
After a Hobart (13-7, 4-2) timeout, the visiting 59ers went on a 7-2 scoring run to easily close out the first set.
"I like them to stay on top of their business and in the first set they did that," said Wiejak.
The second set proved to be much closer, but Hobart's biggest lead was only three and the 59ers wouldn't go away and eventually capitalized on some Brickie mistakes.
"We didn't take them lightly because they're a much-improved team," said Wiejak.
The third set's turning point came at the 15-14 mark when Andrean scored eight straight aided by four more Wojciechowski kills.
"We had a slow start. We didn't come out and execute and our blocking wasn't there," Hobart coach Kristi Hoese said. "We're just learning how to win and we'll learn from our mistakes."
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