The Iola Fillies had a busy night on Tuesday when they hosted Wellsville and Osawatomie and also celebrated their Senior Night and “Spike Out Cancer” event.
The team wore special pink uniforms to help raise cancer awareness. It also raised more than $200 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.
They also honored the careers of their five seniors. Sydney Wade, Toni Macha, Riley Murry, Jadyn Sigg and Sophia Generi each played their final home matches for Iola.
“I’ve been doubly blessed with this group,” Iola coach Jeff Fehr said. “When I was the freshman coach I got to coach them and now I have them again as seniors. They are a very coachable bunch.”
The team lost to a state-ranked Wellsville team in straight-sets to begin the night. They lost by scores of 25-9 and 25-14.
“We know what Wellsville is,” Fehr said. “They are easily one of the best teams in 3A and the best team in our league. The score didn’t show it, but we played hard and smart. We had them on their heels a couple times.”
Wade and sophomore Piper Moore shared the team lead in kills with three each. They also accounted for the team’s only nine assists with Wade having five and Moore getting four.
Sigg had the team’s only ace.
Against Osawatomie, the Fillies were able to get their offense going after falling behind 2-0.
The Fillies rattled off four-consecutive points to grab a 4-2 lead. The team got kills from Murry and Moore and a pair of aces from Wade.
After allowing a point, Iola went on a 5-0 run to grab a 9-3 with the highlight play coming from Murry with a big block.
“Once I got my first block, it really got me going,” Murry said. “I just really, really wanted to win this game.”
Osawatomie battled back to tighten the set at 10-8, but Moore was able to go on a five-point run at the service line to put the Fillies ahead 15-8.
The Fillies never let the Trojans get back within five points for the rest of the match and coasted to a 25-16 set victory.
The Fillies wrapped up the match in the second set when they beat the Trojans 25-20 with a raucous crowd spurring them on.
“Our student section got really hyped and that just made it a really fun time,” Macha said.
