The Iola Fillies volleyball squad hosted its 25th Annual Iola Invitational during the weekend. Seven schools from across Southeast Kansas traveled to participate in the tournament along with Iola.
But unfortunately for coach Emily Sigg, the Fillies didn’t receive any type of home-court advantage during their three matches on Saturday, losing all three in straight sets.
In it’s first game against Prairie View, Iola remained competitive in both sets but fell late in both after struggling to find an offensive identity (25-21, 25-20).
Ashlie Shields led the Fillies with six kills, but the senior was the only player for Iola to have more than two kills in the contest. She was also one of only two Fillies with a service ace.
In addition to Iola’s lack of variety on its offensive attack, Sigg’s squad shot itself in the foot against Prairie View by committing 32 unforced errors in just two sets of work.
Iola faced nearly the same issues when it faced off against Burlington only moments after its first defeat of the day.
The Fillies were swept in two sets after committing 31 unforced errors and recording just five total kills as a team.
Shields and senior Mikaela Platt led Iola with two kills each. Freshman Piper Moore and senior McKayli Cleaver added four and two assists, respectively, but the Wildcats proved too much for the Fillies by winning 25-12, 25-17.
In its third and final matchup on Saturday, Iola lost to Pittsburg in straight sets (25-16, 25-13). Shields led the Fillies once again on offense with three kills and an ace. Moore added two more kills while junior Sydney Wade had one.
Iola had its fewest amount of errors on the day by recording 29 against Pittsburg, but the Fillies were still unable to break through for a victory.
Sigg and company are back in action Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. when they hit the road to face Wellsville and Prairie View.
Fillies struggle in home tournament
