Whitko’s Whitney Marsh looks to tip a point past Westview at the Central Noble Volleyball Sectional semi-finals Saturday afternoon. (Photos by Mike Deak)

ALBION – Momentum is a funny thing. One minute, a team is unstoppable. One point, however, can turn the tables in incredible fashion. Whitko had Westview against the wall in the first game of Saturday’s volleyball sectional semi-final, only for Westview to rally, and then crush Whitko. Westview would eventually knock out Whitko, 3-0, in the Class 2-A Central Noble Volleyball Sectional by a scoreline of 26-24, 25-7, 25-16.

Kaitlyn Reed celebrates a kill against Westview.

Whitko had Westview reeling after taking a 24-21 lead in game one, all of the energy and valuable momentum on its side, just needing any sort of point to send ripples through the sectional. The 2-A No. 9 Warriors aren’t considered one of the top 10 teams in the state without reason, and rallied to score the final five points of the game. An illegal rotation by Whitko followed by a tip into space by Westview closed the game. And with it, effectively, the contest.

“It’s high school girls, I don’t know,” said Whitko head coach Jamie Stidham about the turn of events. “My old coach told me these types of things could happen coaching girls. They are so up and down sometimes. I’ve been telling them since last week we need to go out in the tournament and play hard. I think they brought it, but to lose like how they did in the first game I think was just a big disappointment and it carried over.”

Westview stole the mojo and ran out to an 8-1 lead in game two and spread out a 15-4 advantage before the wheels officially came off for Whitko. Diving for an errant pass, do-it-all junior Kaitlyn Reed went flying toward the judge’s podium, crashing hard into the standard. The ball would continue on, but both teams stopped moving as Reed didn’t get up. After a few moments, Reed would shake off a sub, but tore ligaments in her thumb. She would play on, but it was clear that Whitko was in deep trouble.

Haley Yohe dives to dig a Westview attempt.

Defensively, Whitko couldn’t respond as Westview clearly had its swagger. Westview closed the match with the final five points as a tear-filled Reed and her shocked teammates could only wonder what might have been in that first frame.

“Game one was the best game they had played all season. Just amazing,” Stidham said. “I think Westview played like we would be an easy win early on, and when we showed we were going to play, they started to catch up. It was just a matter of our girls applying that drive. They have always had it, and for whatever reason, we stopped after that first game.

Reed would finish with 12 digs, 10 kills on 26 attempts, and four aces. Emily Day converted on five of her 15 kill attempts and added four digs and a block. Tori Silveus had 11 digs and two assists and Haley Yohe had 14 assists, five digs and two aces.

Whitko concluded its season 20-13 and fell short of going for its first sectional title in program history.

Westview (29-5) would claim its seventh sectional championship and first since 2011 with a 3-0 sweep of Bremen in the afternoon final. Bremen reached the final by sweeping Prairie Heights in the morning’s first game.

Westview will host its regional game against South Adams this Tuesday at 7 p.m.

All was right with the Whitko world in the first game against Westview as the team celebrated a point after a lengthy rally.