High school sports are sometimes a funny thing. Sometimes opportunity lies at your feet. Other times, it walks right through the front door.
River Hill girls volleyball coach Lynn Paynter figured this year might be one for rebuilding. She had lost an All-Metro second-team hitter in Megan Rosburg and a Howard County All-Star in Sarah Okey. Then, on Aug. 12, senior Amber Wiswell walked into the team's first practice. Wiswell grew up in Ventura, Calif., where volleyball is king.
Tuesday, Wiswell and her teammates proved that maybe this won't be a rebuilding season after all by defeating seventh-ranked Mount Hebron, 25-15, 25-14, 25-12, in the opening match for both teams.
"I talked to her mother in June," Paynter said. "First she was going to come, then she wasn't, and then I got a call the day before practice saying she was. She's very friendly. I think she has adapted well to what we do."
Wiswell, 6 feet 2, contributed eight kills and five blocks to lead the No. 11 Hawks to the sweep.
After taking an early lead, Mount Hebron used two aces by Shelley Hynson to tie the first set at seven. From that point, Hawks used two kills each by Wiswell and Marta Roman to run out to an 18-10 lead. The Vikings never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.
The second set was even more one-sided. Wiswell contributed four kills and a block as the Hawks took a 13-7 lead. After the Vikings took advantage of a service error to cut the score to 13-8, River Hill went on a 12-6 to put the set away.
Mount Hebron cut an early deficit to 8-6 in the third set before the taller Hawks began to impose their will at the net. A thunderous block by Taylor Thomas clinched the three-set-to-none win.
"We have a lot of new faces this year, but we have a new motto, too," River Hill junior Cassidy Davis said. "It's new year, new team, same dream.' We look at our team as a group of rising stars, not like last year when we had all of the talent. We have to work hard every day."
Paynter, for her part, says she doesn't mind playing the underdog role for a change.
"I don't mind being underestimated," she said. "We are still trying to figure a few things out. It was nice to see that we had some hitters tonight and that we could play good defense. We have a lot of depth, but it's young depth. We just have to put it together."