HS Invitational is Saturday
LOUISBURG — Iola High’s Fillies were left scrambling this week. Not only was it a short week with a match on the road Thursday, then the annual Iola High Invitational Saturday, the Fillies had to deal with some adversity.
Senior Carly Mulsow suffered broken bones in both arms during an accident over the Labor Day weekend.
“Having three days to work out a system and make everyone comfortable after losing a key senior player has been rough,” said Jodi Grover, Iola High head volleyball coach. “But I feel the girls adjusted throughout the night against Louisburg.”
Iola lost a best-3-of-5 match at Louisburg Thursday. The Wildcats beat the Fillies 25-17, 25-21, 26-24.
Kelsey Larson had two ace serves, 10 set assists and five kills for Iola. Kendra Taiclet downed five kills and had one solo block.
Toni Taylor delivered three kills. Kirstin McGuffin had two kills and three ace serves. Riana Dolenz had two kills and one solo block and Kelsey Adams had two kills.
Grover said passing is still not where the Fillies need it to be so they can execute the ball consistently at the net. Blocking is improving.
Grover said the Fillies played hard against the Wildcats. She said little mistakes prevented the Fillies from win the games.
“We’ve been working hard to implement our overall movement and transition more and I did see more of that. Now we need to put it all together to pull out the wins,” Grover said.
“It was the first time we’ve played best 3 out of 5. It was a good night to get ready for the competition Saturday.”
The Fillies (3-5) host the IHS Invitational Saturday. Action begins at 8:30 a.m. on two courts in the IHS gym.
Anderson County High’s Lady Bulldogs are back to try to make it three in a row and 16 overall for tournament titles. Pittsburg High’s Purple Dragons have lost in the championship match three years in a row.
Also in the tournament are Humboldt High’s Lady Cubs, Labette County High’s Grizzlies, Caney Valley High’s Lady Bullpups, Burlington High’s Wildcats and Cherryvale High’s Lady Chargers.
Iola plays Humboldt at 8:30 in pool play. Labette County and Pittsburg are also in the pool. The top two teams from the two pools move into semifinals,
IOLA’S FRESHMEN also played at Louisburg Thursday. They lost to Louisburg 25-10, 25-15 and defeated Anderson County 25-23, 21-25, 15-12. That was their first win of the season.
Leading servers for Iola were Rebecca Cunningham and Karlie Lower. Mackenzie Weseloh led the team in set assists while Alexis Hobbs and Cunningham had the most kills.
