LaCYGNE — The Burlington, Prairie View and Iola high school volleyball teams have gotten to know each other very well this season and the results have echoed the same every time they have matched up.
Burlington is the No. 4 team in the state in the most recent 4A poll and demonstrated that talent by making quick work of both Prairie View and Iola with straight-set victories on Tuesday in La Cygne.
“This game is very mental,” Iola coach Jeff Fehr said. “When we go into a match against Burlington, we look at their state ranking or we look at how we played against them in the past and we just accept that that’s the way it is going to be.”
The Fillies fell 25-14 and 25-12. They dug themselves a hole early by falling behind quickly in both sets.
In the second set, the Fillies trailed 18-6 at one point, before senior Sydney Wade tightened the match with a strong service run to cut the lead to 18-10, but the Wildcats went on a 7-2 run to close the set and coast to the victory.
Just as the Wildcats have handled the Fillies this season, Iola has dominated their meetings with Prairie View.
“It is definitely a confidence-boaster to know that we have beat them, rather than lost four time like we have to Burlington,” Iola senior Toni Macha said.
The Fillies continued that trend on Tuesday by beating the Buffalos in straight sets, 26-24, 25-22.
The first set against the Buffalos was a game of runs. With the game tied at 5-5 early on, a kill by Iola junior Colbi Riley gave Macha the opportunity to serve.
Macha and her teammates reeled off seven straight points to seemingly grab control of the set. Big kills from Riley and sophomore Piper Moore highlighted the Fillies’ run.
“I was fairly comfortable,” Macha said when asked about her serves. “Once you get a few down, you get into a rhythm.”
The Buffalos used a big service run from junior Jena Williams to turn the tables on Iola. Williams had a five-point run to give Prairie a 19-18 lead and completely flip the momentum of the match.
After a side-out got the serve back, Iola turned to one of their senior leaders right the ship again.
Wade stepped the service line and had three-straight points to give Iola a 22-19 advantage.
Prairie View came back again and tied the game at 24-24, but kills from Moore and junior Katie Bauer gave the Fillies a 26-24 win.
Another big serving run by one of the Iola seniors gave the team a early lead in the second set.
Riley Murry was able to reel off six-straight for the Fillies and they built a 10-3 lead in the early going.
“Usually we dig a hole for ourselves in the beginning, so to get a lead definitely helped us out,” Macha said.
Prairie View was able to respond and tighten the game back up with a five-point run from junior Jayden Tennis to cut the margin to 12-11 and they were able to eventually grab a 15-14 lead.
The Fillies quickly answered back with a 3-0 run to retake the lead, but Prairie View tied the gave at 19-19 after their own run.
Moore gave her Fillies the lead back with a big kill and sent junior Chloe Gardner to the service line.
Gardner had two aces, Macha had a kill and Iola finally grabbed control of the match for good at 23-19.
Another Moore kill ended the match with the Fillies taking a 25-22 win.
This is the time of the season that the Fillies have been pointing to all season as they make their final tweaks to the roster before postseason play.
“We brought Mia (Aronson) up and got her some more experience,” Fehr said. “She I thought she handled herself well. She took her first hard serve and it sort of got her into the game and after that she settled down… We need to get her working with some of the upper-classmen and get her ready.”
The Fillies got an unlucky draw when it comes to their substate assignment. The No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 teams in 4A will all be at Iola’s substate with Topeka-Hayden, Santa Fe Trail and Burlington all converging on Burlington for the Oct. 22 tournament.
“We have an unique opportunity, more than any other team in the state as far as substate,” Fehr said. “It is a loaded deck… For these seniors, I hope we can get some more wins and let them go out with some success.”
JUNIOR VARSITY
The Iola junior varsity fell to Burlington with set scores of 25-14 and 25-16.
The junior varsity also faced off with Prairie View, but those scores were not made available at press time.
FRESHMEN
The Fillies freshman split their matches by beating Prairie View, 25-15 and 25-11, but falling to Burlington 25-10 and 25-15.
