UPDATED: Morin to step down after regional setback

Shakamak senior Marki Collins keeps the ball in play against Edinburgh as teammate Stacey Durham watches during Saturday's regional at South Decatur High School. The Lady Lakers fell in four games to the Lancers. (By Rick Curl/Greene County Daily World). [Order this photo]

GREENSBURG -- The era of Jeri Morin is over at Shakamak High School.

Morin made that announcement following her team's 15-25, 25-17, 14-25, 11-25 loss to Edinburgh at Saturday's Class A Regional at South Decatur High School.

After the contest ended and prior to answering questions from the media, Morin made her decision public.

The Shakamak Lady Lakers celebrate after winning a set for the first time in regional play. It came in the third set of their four-set loss to Edinburgh Saturday at South Decatur High School. The Lady Lakers finished the season 21-10 and captured their third consecutive class A sectional title. (By Rick Curl/Greene County Daily World). [Order this photo]

She cited a desire to spend more time with her family as the reason for her retirement.

"I have other obligations," Morin said fighting back tears as her husband Steve stood stoic at her side. "I have a son that is going to be a freshman and that is my first priority. For 13 years now I've given 110 percent to the program and I want that to continue. I want to give 110 percent to my life...so I've enjoyed this and it will be a part of my life forever."

Morin, who began her coaching career at the Jasonville school as a junior high coach then two years as junior varsity coach before taking over the varsity team in 2002, wraps up a very successful eight years that saw the team steadily improve each year.

That improvement included double-digit wins in all eight of her varsity seasons, two conference championships and three consecutive sectional titles.

"It's hard to walk away from it," she said. "I've enjoyed the experience that I've had. I'll always treasure it. I love the girls."

While the swan song of Morin and her four seniors -- Amanda Gilbert, Kathleen Gilreath, Stacey Durham and Marki Collins -- didn't end as she would have liked, they did manage to lead the Lady Lakers to their first win of a set beyond the sectional.

In the previous two years, Shakamak had fallen to Indianapolis Lutheran in straight sets. But on Saturday they pulled out a win in the third set of the match against the Lancers before finally bringing the season to a close.

"It was nice winning that one," Morin said. "I wish we could've kept going with the confidence. But it'll be OK."

After Edinburgh took command of the first two games and never slowed behind the outside hitting of their senior leader Emilee Owens, the Lady Lakers finally got untracked in set No. 3.

"Volleyball is a lot of mental," Morin said. "If you're not mentally in the game, it's going to take you over. And we weren't mentally in the game."

A kill by Durham and block at the net by Mikayla Crane, staked them to a lead that would be knotted four times before Edinburgh finally wrestled it away, only to see Shakamak take control again.

After a service error by the Lady Lakers gave the Lancers their last lead at 9-8, the Lady Lakers slowly took control of the contest in much the same manner as had been their trademark during the regular season.

A ball into the net by Edinburgh followed by a lift call and a long kill attempt pushed the gap to 11-9.

A pair of aces by Gilbert and consecutive kills from Holli Moore widened the margin to 14-9 and set the stage for a Lady Laker 10-5 closing flourish.

But, as much has been the story for Shakamak beyond the comforts of Greene County, the Lancers recovered and controlled the final set.

"I can stand here and say what we did wrong and what we did wrong, but I'm not going to," Morin said. "We made an impact last week to get to this point and that's what I'm proud of. The girls know their mistakes and there's no sense of pounding it in their brains. They know what they did wrong and they're very upset about the loss.

"But we've got to think about what we did last week and the accomplishments we've made. That's what I'm really proud of them for."

In their sectional final victory over Clay City last week at home, Crane and Collins had paced the Lady Lakers and set the tone.

But it wasn't until the second set on Saturday when Crane started to make herself a threat to the Lancers defenders.

"She has been sick for the last four days," Morin said. "She's missed school the last four days and she's been trying to recover from that. So it's been really, really tough."

Morin said that threw her practices leading up to the regional into some disarray. And left her trying to keep the rest of the team on track in preparations for Saturday.

"It's tough not practicing without her for a couple of days," Morin said. "Whenever you get everybody out of alignment, it's hard to get everybody back into alignment and adjust to what you're used to."

In the second set, Crane appeared over the physical setback and started to bring her game back to the level it had been at less than seven days prior to the regional.

She finished the match with eight kills to along with 5 of 7 serving, two points, an ace, three blocks and two digs.

"Going into the third game we had some momentum because she finally started hitting well and blocking finally," Morin said. "We really struggled the first two sets, then we got up and we blocked in the third game. That was a big key we stopped a lot of the balls and made them spectators."

Crane closed out her final match in Shakamak blue with a team-high 11 kills, 10 digs and six points on 16 of 16 serving while Durham finished with four kills, one block, two digs, four points and 9 of 12 serving.

Gilbert's final foray on the court yielded 17 of 17 serving for 10 points with three aces, 24 assists and six digs and Gilreath ended her career with 1 of 2 serving, one point and one ace.

"Amanda Gilbert is a four-year, varsity letter winner along with Marki Collins," Morin said. "Stacey really stepped it up this year and so did Kat Gilreath. They're a great group of leaders who will be sadly missed."

Morin won't leave the program empty handed.

This season's roster was dotted with four juniors, four seniors and a group of freshmen that she says will give whoever her replacement is with a solid core.

"I wouldn't feel right if I was leaving the program with not much to work on," Morin said. "I've won three sectional championships and it's great to go out on top. I'm proud to be the coach at Shakamak."

Shakamak Statistics

Amanda Gilbert -- 17 of 17 serving, 10 points, three aces, 24 assists, six digs.

Mikayla Crane -- 5 of 7 serving, two points, one ace, eight kills, three blocks, two digs.

Marki Collins -- 16 of 16 serving, six points, 11 kills, 10 digs.

Stacey Durham -- 9 of 12 serving, four points, four kills, one block, two digs.

Holli Moore -- 4 of 6 serving, five kills, three blocks, eight digs.

Riley Montgomery -- 4 of 5 serving, two digs.

Lacey Ashcraft -- 4 of 4 serving, two points, one ace, one kill, one dig.

Kat Gilreath -- 1 of 2 serving, one point, one ace.

Kylee Grissom -- 13 digs.