LA CYGNE — Iola Middle School’s seventh-grade volleyball teams fought valiantly, but came up short in a pair of road matches Monday.
The Mustangs were at Prairie View, where the A team girls lost in four sets, 15-25, 25-23, 25-20 and 25-15.
“They were true nail-biters,” Iola head coach Aubrey Westhoff said, while praising Iola’s service game.
Arianna Warner led the way for Iola with 12 aces, followed by Faith Warden with seven, Lily Lohman with five, Izzy Tyson and Carly Kramer with four each and Avery Martin with one. Martin also had two kills; Tyson had one.
“The girls did such a good job of moving, talking, setting the ball up and serving,” Westhoff said. “It was fun watching them play tonight.”
The Buffalos defeated Iola in the B team affair, 25-23, 25-13, 23-25 and 25-16.
Werner led the Mustangs with four aces, followed by Madison Hall with three, Samantha Stogsdill and Marlee Westhoff with two apiece and Kameron Erbert and Kandrella McCullough each with one. Marlee Westhoff and Hall both registered three kills. Madelyn Ashworth was next with two. Stephanie Fees, Werner, Cecilia Miller and Stogsdill each had a kill.
“The girls did a great job of talking and moving as well,” Coach Westhoff said. “One place they really shined was being able to get that second pass back into play when someone had a bad pass. This is something we’ve really worked on all season so being able to see them do it was awesome. We may have fallen short tonight but we played some great volleyball.”
IOLA’S eighth-grade squads were idle Monday because Prairie View’s eighth-grade squad was under quarantine after a COVID-19 diagnosis.
The teams will be back in action Thursday at Burlington.
