Cardinals Cheer on Former Volleyball Standout Annie Wehrheim
By: Elaina Montgomery
On September 10th, the WHS volleyball team, along with the Woodlawn volleyball community and fans, went to a volleyball game at SIUC. What was so special? The opponent was SEMO, and playing for them was the legendary Annie Wehrheim, a former student and role model/player at WHS. Annie was part of the WHS volleyball team that won super sectionals. She played as a middle hitter during her high school career, though she really wanted to play as an outside hitter. As her fans saw Tuesday night, she now gets to hit outside. Everyone was so excited to be there and see her play. Maybe this will give you an idea of how she plays… during a high school home game, she hit the ball, which hit a girl in the head, and gave the girl a concussion!
SIUC and SEMO were very evenly matched, which contributed to an intense and close game. In a set, SEMO would be ahead, then SIUC would push past them in points. No matter who was ahead, Annie and her teammates played and battled as hard as they could. Annie’s fan section was huge that night, and made their presence known with wild cheers. When the Woodlawn’s former athlete got a kill (a hit SIUC couldn’t get up), Woodlawn’s current athletes were loud and proud! “She’s-A-Cardi-Nal!” they would shout, and their chant would be followed by uniform clapping.
It was a very exciting five set game, and both teams battled their hardest. Unfortunately, SIUC was able to pull ahead and win three out of the five sets played. The Woodlawn community was still so glad to be there and see Annie. WHS’s volleyball team stayed after for pictures to capture the moment. They even got to take pictures with Annie. It was an enjoyable and memorable night. Everyone is very proud of Annie and everything she’s accomplished. After all… Once a Cardinal, Always a Cardinal.
