Central played its first Upper Iowa Conference volleyball match of the season against West Central on Sept. 10. It was a great battle from start to finish, with the Warriors showing a lot of determination and never giving up, even when they found themselves down.
The Warriors came back to take set one, 25-21, and followed that with a 25-23 win in set two. West Central fought back to take set three, 26-24, but the Warriors answered with a strong 25-14 win in set four to earn the conference victory.
One of the biggest highlights was how well the Warriors played together as a team. We always talk about how serving 90% or better gives us a good opportunity to win, and the Warriors reached that goal, serving 90% as a team.
It was truly a team effort offensively, with the Warriors recording 46 kills. Carlie Bergan led the way with 15 kills, followed by Ella Frieden with 12 and Brylee Erickson with 10. Zoey Armstrong led the offense with 34 assists. Defensively, Carlie led with 19 digs, followed by Tenley Bormann with 16, Ella with 15 and Brylee 14.
Having so many players contribute in double figures made this a true team win. The Warriors also served the ball well. Brylee went 23-for-27 with three aces, while eighth grader Rylie Kuhse went 19-for-21 with two aces.
Overall, I was very pleased with how we played together and how we continued to battle through the close sets. This group continues to show they are willing to fight for each other and never give up.
On Sept. 12, the Warriors traveled to Jesup for a tournament.
We started the day against Jesup and battled through three very close sets. We dropped set one, 24-26, came back to win set two, 21-16, and then fell just short in set three, 14-16. We started the first set a little slowly but battled back and narrowly missed taking the win. The girls responded by coming out and winning set two before another close finish in the third.
We served 87% as a team, just below our 90% goal. Tenley was perfect, going 15-for-15 with two aces. Rylie went 14-for-15 and Zoey went 9-for-10 with two aces.
On offense, Brylee led the way with seven kills, followed by Avery with five. Defensively, Tenley and Zoey each had nine digs, followed by Brylee with eight.
Overall, the Warriors fought hard all the way to the end, and I was very pleased with the way we competed against a strong Jesup team.
After Jesup, we faced a tough South Winn team we previously played at the Ed-Co tournament. South Winn came away with a 21-7, 21-9 win. Coming off three long, hard-fought sets against Jesup, we simply didn’t have the energy we needed to compete with a tough South Winn team.
We didn’t get many opportunities to serve, but when we did, we served 88%, just shy of our 90% team goal. Ella went 4-for-4 with one ace, Tenley was also 4-for-4 and Rylie led the team by going 5-for-5 with two aces. Avery led the offense with two kills, while Tenley led the defense with seven digs, followed by Brylee with five.
One of the biggest differences in the match was the number of free balls we sent over. We sent 18 free balls compared to just one from South Winn, which gave them more opportunities to set up their offense and put pressure on our defense. This is a great learning opportunity for us as we continue to grow and become more aggressive with our play.
We finished the day by facing West Central for the second time. After starting slowly and dropping set one, 15-21, the Warriors bounced back to win set two, 23-21, and then closed out the match with a strong 15-6 win in set three.
The Warriors served 87% as a team. Tenley was perfect once again, going 12-for-12 with one ace. Ella went 9-for-10, while Brylee went 8-for-9 with one ace.
Offensively, Tenley, Brylee and Carlie each recorded six kills, with Ella right behind them with five. Zoey led the offense with 21 assists. On defense, Tenley led with eight digs, followed by Ella, Zoey and Brylee with seven each.
Overall, it was a very productive week for the Warriors. We saw a lot of fight, teamwork and resilience throughout the week. Even when things didn’t go our way, this group continued to battle and find ways to come back. With such a young team, every match provides another opportunity to learn and grow, and I am very proud of the way these girls continue to compete and work together.
Central has just one match on the schedule this week, a home game against Waukon on Sept. 15.
