As Iola High’s Fillies enter the final week of the regular season, head coach Amanda Strickler-Holman senses her team is peaking at the right time.
“Right now, we’re relying on our experience,” she said. “We realize we’ve done it before, and we can do it again. We’re not panicking. We’re holding our composure, and we’re believing in ourselves. That’s the biggest thing, if we believe.”
The Fillies had their share of tense moments Saturday, ultimately prevailing on their home court over Girard and Wellsville in three sets, before falling to Labette County — one of the area’s top volleyball teams — in their final match of the day.
The 2-1 mark essentially give Iola second place in a mini-tournament. In any other year, Saturday’s action would have been in Garnett as part of the Anderson County Invitational.
However, COVID-19 concerns prompted Anderson County officials to split the event in half, with Iola hosting a quadrangular event at IHS.
The Fillies had their sights set on a clean sweep, battling back-and-forth with Labette County in the finale, and leading 22-21 late in the set. But the Grizzlies scored three straight points to take the upper hand of what became a 25-23 win. Labette County then cruised through the second set, 25-19.
“It’s not the ending we wanted,” Strickler-Holman said. “Labette’s a good team, and they’re probably the first team that found our holes.”
The Grizzlies then repeatedly exploited those weaknesses, she noted. “We didn’t give it to them. They earned it.”
Becca Sprague paced Iola with 12 kills and eight assists. Lauryn Holloway followed with five kills and two blocks. Veronica Agostini had four kills and 10 assists. Hannah Gardner and Jenna Curry had six and three digs, respectively.
THE START of the competition had its share of thrills. Iola fended off Girard to win the first set, 25-21, but missed out on chances for a sweep in the second set. Three times, the Fillies had the serve with an opportunity to close out the match, but couldn’t in a 28-26 loss.
Undaunted, Iola bounced back to a quick 8-2 lead in the third set and never looked back, winning 25-20.
Sprague had 15 points, 10 assists, eight digs and two blocks. Holloway had seven kills, three aces, six blocks and eight digs. Agostini had 12 assists and five kills. Gardner and Curry each had nine digs. Curry also had six aces. Ally Ellis had three digs and two blocks.
A COLD start hurt Iola against Wellsville, as the Fillies trailed 14-5 at one point.
They stormed back to make it close, but fell, 25-23. Still, Iola held momentum from there, winning the final two sets, 25-14 and 25-19.
Sprague and Agostini were the primary contributors. Sprague had 14 kills, seven assists and six digs. Agostini racked up 11 kills, 16 assists and eight digs. Curry and Holloway had four and three kills, respectively. Holloway added eight digs, Gardner had nine digs, Chloe Sell had eight and Ellis had four.
IOLA wraps up the regular season Tuesday at Anderson County before hosting the Class 4A Substate Tournament on Saturday.
