The Mound Westonka volleyball varsity roster features eight seniors and two juniors, but two White Hawks' players who cannot go unnoticed happen to be freshmen.
Twin sisters Brenna and Callie Mack are key cogs in the White Hawks' offensive attack and vital to the team's success.
Callie is the team's setter and Brenna is the team's top outside hitter. The pair was clicking last week as the White Hawks recorded Wright County Conference victories over Orono and Dassel-Cokato.
The White Hawks traveled to Orono on Tuesday, Sept. 15 and came away with a 3-1 victory by scores of 25-22, 22-25, 25-14 and 25-23.
Brenna Mack recorded 17 kills and five aces, while Callie Mack tallied 22 assists and eight digs in the victory.
"They have a connection," White Hawks head coach Katie Jo O'Gara said. "They stay calm and collected. They play year round so there's never an off season for them so they are always ready to go. Brenna is definitely a go-to girl."
Brenna Mack started strong by recording five kills and an ace in game one. Orono actually led game one 21-18, but the White Hawks captured eight of the last nine points to take a 1-0 lead.
Senior middle hitter Lauren Palm scored back-to-back points with a block and a kill. After sophomore Kayla Schultz and senior Emily Wise recorded kills, Callie Mack ended game one with an ace.
The White Hawks took a 10-2 lead in game two, but Orono quickly turned things around by winning 14 of the next 15 points. After taking a 16-11 lead, the Spartans went on to win game two 25-22.
Junior Lexi Rinde and sophomore Mariah Scharf were instrumental in the Spartans' comeback as Rinde tallied four kills while Scharf added two kills and four aces.
"We started out with a bang and then we let it slump a little bit in game two," O'Gara said. "I think it hit home because we wanted to get it going and get our first conference victory."
With the match tied at one game apiece, the White Hawks turned to Brenna Mack to lead them to the victory.
Mack received the ball on the outside early and often and she delivered with five kills in game three including one on game point.
The White Hawks led nearly the entire way in game four, but had a little trouble closing the Spartans out.
The White Hawks led 21-15 late in the game, but allowed the Spartans to rally and tie the score at 23.
After Orono hit long to give the White Hawks a match point, Brenna Mack delivered the match-clinching kill from the back row to give her team the victory.
Brenna Mack recorded six kills and three aces in the fourth and deciding game to lead her team to their first conference victory of the year.
"I'm ecstatic with how we played," O'Gara said. "We played like a team. It was like one fluid piece. We were really scrappy, picking each other up and that's what we needed to do."
Rinde led the Spartans with 13 kills, while Scharf chipped in with eight kills and six aces in the match.
The White Hawks took the momentum from the victory at Orono and earned their second straight conference victory against Dassel-Cokato on Thursday, Sept. 17.
The White Hawks used a similar formula as they won game one, dropped the second game, and then came back to win games three and four to clinch the victory.
The game scores were 25-23, 20-25, 25-19 and 25-22. Brenna Mack once again led the way offensively with 17 kills, while sister Callie added 29 assists, 18 digs, and five aces.
The White Hawks are now 2-1 in Wright County Conference play and have ten wins overall this
season.
The team will look to continue its winning streak when it hosts Rockford on Tuesday, Sept. 22. Conference play will resume on Tuesday, Sept. 29 when the White Hawks travel to Litchfield.
"We'd like to win a couple more conference games because we've never won more than two," O'Gara said. "This team that we have of 13 girls - all of them have a role to play with how we do.".
