GLENS FALLS
Sometimes, winning just one game is the story.
Like every single player diving and sliding across the court at the Glens Falls Civic Center on Saturday, the Ravena Indians dreamed of hoisting the state trophy on Sunday.
But after an 0-4 start in pool play, it was clear that dream would remain with the Sandman.
This was the second straight year the Indians played in the Class B bracket of the State Girls Volleyball Tournament. After finishing 0-6 last year, this season's squad was determined to prove they belonged with the likes of Eden, John Glenn and Hendrick Hudson, the titans of this tournament.
They had one pool-play game left to do it.
John Glenn stood in the way. The Knights had just split their contest with reigning champions Hendrick Hudson and needed two more wins to force a one-game playoff with none other than Hendrick Hudson for a shot at the state final.
There would be no Sunday morning game for Ravena, but the Indians needed a win just as bad.
Simply put, it was what they came to Glens Falls to do.
"Our goal was to win at least one game and we knew we could do it," said junior Katie Vishneowski. "We came close (against) Hendrick Hudson and Eden in the first game."
Senior Britney Lintner was tired of coming close. She wanted to show all those packed in the Civic Center just how her Indians team got to the final four.
"I was playing to prove something," Lintner said. "I wanted to prove we did deserve to be there; that we could compete with these teams."
In the game against John Glenn, Ravena did just that.
They played an entire game with a confidence and ease they showed in spurts for most of the day.
They dug, they passed and spiked with the kind of intensity that comes when you're playing solely for those six girls on the floor.
"We knew that when we lost against Eden it was going to be our last time playing with each other," Vishneowski said. "We just tried to go out there and do our best and enjoy it."
Ravena got its win, and with it, ended John Glenn's hopes of playing on Sunday while giving Hendrick Hudson a shot to defend its title.
In fact, Hendrick Hudson fans set aside their blue and white for a moment to don the Indians' green and gold and cheer for the team that would book their ticket to the big show.
"I have a lot of respect for them," said Hendrick Hudson coach Diane Swertfager.
"They could have laid down and died and said ‘Oh we're not going to the state finals.' But they came out here and played like it was the final. Good for them, they showed so much heart."
Swertfager said she will mention Ravena's heart before their championship contest against Eden on Sunday.
One win, that's all it will say in books, but for Ravena, that win was the thing dreams were made of.
"As a senior, that was the biggest thing we could have accomplished," Lintner said.
Contact Alicia Johnson at ajohnson@poststar.com.
Posted in Sports, Prep, High-school-and-prep on Sunday, November 22, 2009 12:25 am | Tags: Volleyball, Alicia Johnson, Ravena
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