WILSON EXTRA: SACCO: What we have been waiting for

It’s tough not to look back at Nov. 6, 2007 and say, “Ah-ha.”

Then again, that day proved that hindsight doesn’t need glasses.

It was the day after an election night and, this paper called it “Dejection Day” in our headline for the simple fact that Stuarts Draft and Fort Defiance were both knocked out of the Region III volleyball tournament and, once again, Rappahannock made Wilson Memorial’s trip to the Region B tourney a short one.

Then again, in 2007, Wilson Memorial wasn’t supposed to be there. The Hornets lost seven seniors, had a team full of juniors and everybody, including a then slack-jawed sports editor, said that team was going nowhere.

Instead, the Green Hornets finished as Shenandoah District regular-season and tournament champs. They ended with a 17-6 record.

More importantly, that team planted the seeds for what would become their current run to the 2008 Final Four.

“Ready to believe in 2008?” asked the headline written over a column from that match. And folks, looks like you should have been.

There were no tears after that loss, only smiles and a passing glimpse into the future. And, oh, there was excitement for what this season could bring. So much so, nobody would have been surprised if Wilson AD Greg Troxell had to lock coach Kim Claytor and her Green Hornets out of the gym the day after the loss.

“Oh, I’d get ready tomorrow if I could,” she said.

Instead, the Green Hornets had to wait. They were willing because they knew what we knew – barring any major hiccups, 2008 would be their year.

Look no further than that fateful November evening when this team became a true program. When the players bought into tradition – sometimes something stronger than talent – and lost in a tournament nobody thought they had any right being in.

Asked last year if this season would be the one for her Hornets, Claytor, like most of the girls that left the locker room with smiles after that loss, didn’t hesitate.

“If they want it to be, yes, it will be,” she said. “And I’m sure it will be.”

Sorry, coach. But, looking back on things, you’re not in the running for any Nostrodamus awards. Everybody with an eye for volleyball talent had to know that these Hornets would be making the trip.

After the heartbreak of 2005 and the heartache of 2006’s exit, wasn’t it time for things to finally go this team’s way? Sure it was.

And here we are, hours away from the biggest volleyball match in these girls’ careers to date, and we’ve found the answer.

Yes, these seeds were planted long ago.

Yes, Christine Coffield, Taijha Jones, Kala Guy, Tiffany Crosby, Jessica Arbogast, Megan Jeffers, Julia Aronson, Danielle Dove, Noel Bartley and Trisha Bruce waited their turns.

So did Kim Claytor.

And, to think what culminates starting today began gestating on Nov. 6, 2007.

Some of us saw it coming, everyone should have.