High School Volleyball: Fillies 2, Lady Tornados 0; Fillies 2, Lady Yellowjackets 0
Iola Filly volleyball took a big step Tuesday night, grabbing two non-league sweeps over Fredonia and Eureka.
Iola beat Eureka, a team that sat atop the Tri-Valley league standings heading into the match, 25-18 and 25-22 and Fredonia 25-17 and 25-13.
I think today was crucial for us, head coach Amanda Strickler said. We earned both wins and had to come back in both games. Im hoping this is a turning point. I think theyre there but hopefully, this will push them over the edge.
After the wins, Iola moves to 7-12 overall.
The Lady Tornados grabbed an early lead in set one over the Fillies and held it until Iola tied the match up at 13. Eureka stayed one step ahead until the Fillies took the lead at 18-17.
Led by a strong serving run from senior Shaylee Sutterby, Iola rattled off a 9-1 run accented by a kill from senior Piper Moore to get the 25-18 set one win.
They are a good team, Strickler said. That win is huge for us. They didnt give us that game, we earned it. Thats the level of volleyball that we should be playing at.
Set two went much the same way. Iola and Eureka were knotted up at 8 before a 7-0 Filly run gave Iola an edge. Eureka outscored Iola 14-10 down the stretch and got within a point at 23-22 but a big block followed by a match-winning ace from sophomore Becca Sprague gave Iola the win.
In practice, weve been working in situations, Strickler said. Weve worked on being down and figuring out when to make our move and what to do and weve worked on keeping our lead. Weve done that over and over and we implemented that tonight. We werent scared, we just came in and finished.
Moore had five aces and Sutterby had four. Senior Ellie Carson led the team with four kills, sophomore Becca Sprague had nine assists and freshman Lauryn Holloway had three blocks.
Freshman Hannah Gardner had a pass rating of 2.7.
The Fillies then sat and watched Eureka easily sweep Fredonia before facing the Lady Yellowjackets themselves.
Iola struggled early in set one after taking a quick 4-0 lead. Fredonia tied things up at 15 before a 10-2 Filly run closed out the set.
Volleyball is such a mental game and I hate waiting, Strickler said. I would much rather play and play because its hard to stay focused. So you always have to play your game and have the right mindset and not drop down a level or let your confidence get the best of you.
Set two was much less exciting as Iola grabbed an early lead and held it, ending the match with their largest lead of the day at 25-13.
