Finding a way to get out of pool play and into bracket play at their own tournament was huge for Iola High’s Fillies. An Iola team hadn’t been in the top four teams in three years.
“We had a such a rough start to the season at the tournament at Prairie View then back to Prairie View last week. With just one win, we were a little unsure of ourselves. It was a big deal for our girls to reach the bracket play Saturday,” said Emily Sigg, Fillies’ head coach.
Seeing Prairie View High’s Buffalos for the third time already this season, the Fillies opened Saturday’s pool play with a decisive 25-18, 25-20 win. Then came Labette County.
Iola pushed out to a first set win against the Grizzlies. But in the second set, the Fillies fell behind 24-15.
Emma Piazza went back to serve for Iola. Labette County just needed to sideout to send the match to a third set.
Piazza and the Fillies didn’t allow that to happen. Piazza served 10 straight points to tie the set up. Net play by Katie Thompson provided several points in the run.
The Fillies had to hold defensively and Emery Driskel, who had six kills in the match, delivered one. Driskel served up a point.
Labette County had the serve at 26-26 but Kyra Moore came up with a defensive kill for Iola. Thompson went to the service line for Iola.
Her only ace of the match came on the final serve. It gave Iola a 25-23, 28-26 win and secured a spot in the semifinal bracket.
“This match showed me how much fight these girls have and how determined they can be when they wanted to,” Sigg said.
Iola battled Pittsburg for the top spot in the pool. The Fillies came from behind to win the first set then the Purple Dragons rallied to win the match 23-25, 25-14, 25-18.
The Fillies took on Burlington High’s Wildcats in the semifinals. The Wildcats rolled to a 25-9, 25-21 win. In the first set, Burlington led 10-9 and Blake Peterson served out the set, 15 straight points.
“That was a hard loss to a great team. We started to fall flat and reverted back to old mistakes that we made in previous losses,” Sigg said.
Burlington went on to win its second straight IHS Invitational title. The Wildcats beat Anderson County High’s Lady Bulldogs 27-25, 25-16 in the championship match. The two teams were in the same pool and Burlington won that match 25-13, 19-25, 25-14.
The Fillies faced Pittsburg again in the third-place match. Pittsburg lost to Anderson County 25-23, 25-20 in the semifinals.
After a slow start with the Dragons, the Fillies were down a set plus faced a 20-16 deficit in the second set. Thompson was on the service line and got the Fillies back in the match.
Thompson had three ace serves while Driskel and Breanna Stout each had a kill. Iola gained the lead and was up 24-22 when Moore served the final point.
The Fillies fell behind in the third set and couldn’t catch up. Pittsburg won 25-19, 22-25, 25-18.
For the tournament, Piazza served up 52 points and had three ace serves. She also had 26 set assists, three kills and one block.
Thompson had 47 service points and five aces. She delivered 10 kills at the net and three blocks.
Hannah Endicott served 38 points and had four ace serves. Moore had 33 points served and one ace. She also was credited with 30 set assists.
Driskel led the Fillies’ net attack with 28 kills on the day and eight solo blocks. She served 42 points and had nine ace serves.
Addie Haar had 11 kills and four solo blocks plus served 21 points and had three ace serves. Stout delivered 10 kills and one solo block.
Keli Lee had seven digs and Emma Sigg had four digs.
“I was happy with how the girls played all weekend,” Sigg said. “They showed a lot of heart and that they are capable of being a great team.”
Sigg said the tournament play at home was a big boost to the Fillies. They will have all week to continue to improve on areas before heading south to Pittsburg for this Saturday’s Pittsburg High Invitational.
Fillies claim fourth in IHS Invitational
