The MFL MarMac volleyball team was back on the court last week, going 5-2 across a triangular, an Upper Iowa Conference match and a weekend tournament—and improving to 10-6 overall.
The week started Sept. 8, in a triangular at Maquoketa Valley, where MFL MarMac swept the host team as well as West Central.
The Bulldogs fended off the Wildcats 25-18 and 25-17, behind nearly perfect serving. The team hit 97.9 percent overall, including a 14/15 clip from junior Addison Corlett, who smashed three of the team’s four aces. Senior Lily Johnson made all 11 attempts, with an ace, while junior Kensey Ball was 8/8.
Corlett paced the offense with 21 assists, helping to set up 24 team kills. Johnson was responsible for eight, and senior Payton McElwaine, junior Ashtyn Dundee and sophomore Blair Winter each contributed four.
Johnson also supported the defense with 14 digs, followed by Ball with 10. Junior Kambry Keehner secured two of MFL MarMac’s four blocks, and Johnson and Corlett each picked up one.
The Bulldogs continued to roll against West Central, defeating the Blue Devils 25-15 and 25-20. Although the team’s serve efficiency dropped to just under 90 percent in this match, players notched five aces. Ball claimed two of them after going a perfect 11/11 from the line. Junior Macy McGeough hit one ace on 9/9 serving.
Johnson continued to power the offense with nine of MFL MarMac’s 29 kills. Winter netted six and Keehner five. Corlett added four kills along with a team-high 19 assists.
Defensively, Johnson and Ball each wrangled seven digs, while Corlett had five and the team’s only block.
MFL MarMac head coach Becky Johnson said it was a great night, highlighted by the first-ever win over Maquoketa Valley, according to Bound records dating back to 2012.
“We finally put together the type of volleyball I have known this team is capable of playing,” she said. “We have spent a lot of time in practice working on blocking and trying to teach it differently to see if we could get that part of our game going, and it really paid off. We were able to put some blocks on the board and make an impact at the net.”
“We have also talked a lot about improving our hitting efficiency, and that showed up in our match against West Central. We were much more efficient offensively and did a good job of making our attacks count,” she continued.
MFL MarMac opened Upper Iowa Conference play on Sept. 10, falling 3-0 at New Hampton by scores of 13-25, 21-25 and 25-17.
Serve efficiency dropped in this match, with the Bulldogs making 88.7 percent. Corlett led the way at 12/13 and an ace, followed by McGeough with a 10/10 night.
The Bulldogs were also less efficient on kills, despite a 12-kill night for Johnson. Winter and McGeough each contributed four kills, while Corlett led the team with 18 assists.
Johnson anchored the defense with nine digs, and Corlett had eight. Ball and Winter each collected six digs. Winter and Keehner also had one block apiece.
MFL MarMac finished out the week in a Sept. 12 tournament at Seneca, where they went 3-1 against Wisconsin competitors.
The lone loss was to host Seneca by scores of 16-25 and 23-25.
The Bulldogs’ serve efficiency bumped up to 95 percent in this match, led by perfect 9/9 and 7/7 outings by sophomore Gracyn Welch and Johnson. Sophomore Nora Rasmussen made all six of her attempts, including an ace.
Johnson and Winter matched one another with six kills, and Keehner aided the offense with four. Corlett topped the assist column with 15.
The defense was bolstered by nine-dig performances from both Johnson and Ball, while Rasmussen picked up six. McGeough recorded the team’s only block.
Following the loss to Seneca, MFL MarMac went on a three-win roll, defeating Boscobel 25-11 and 25-17, Cassville 25-10 and 25-14, then Coulee Christian/Providence Academy 25-12 and 25-15.
Johnson was a force at the net, reaching double-digit kills in each match and 37 across all three. Winter had 20 total kills, half coming in the match against Coulee Christian/Providence Academy. Corlett continued as the assist leader, combining for 72 in the three victories.
Defensively, MFL MarMac saw impressive dig stats from Ball, Johnson and Corlett, with Ball racking up 26 in the wins and Johnson and Corlett each with 19. Johnson also reached the milestone of 500 career digs.
The Bulldogs had no blocks against Boscobel, but amassed seven versus Cassville. Johnson accounted for three—two solo and one assist—while Winter, Keehner, McGeough and Rasmussen each earned one. Another two blocks came in the final match, both from Winter.
From the service line, MFL MarMac hovered just under 90 percent in their final two matches, but made nearly 96 percent against Boscobel. Ball led the effort, going 12/13 with an ace, 14/14 with two aces and 10/10 with two aces in the respective games. Rasmussen found success as well, hitting all nine attempts versus Boscobel, including an ace, then 13 of 15 in the Cassville match, also with an ace. She concluded the tournament with a 15/17 performance versus CC/PA, smashing four of the team’s 10 aces.
MFL MarMac has another Upper Iowa Conference match this week, at West Central on Sept. 15, then heads to the Waukon tournament Sept. 19.
