Iola Middle School’s eighth-graders cruised to a straight-set victory over visiting Wellsville Tuesday.
“We came out ready to play,” IMS head coach Terri Carlin said after the 25-6, 25-5, 25-18 victory. “The girls served tough tonight and Wellsville really struggled with passing. We kept the pressure on and scored most of our points off of ace serves. We had a few opportunities to attack the ball.”
Kaysin Crusinbery led the Mustangs with seven aces, to go with four assists. Annemarie McCullough added five aces and a kill. Reese Curry chipped in with three aces and four kills. Karingten Hall had three kills. Mariah Jelenik had two aces and two kills, followed by Elza Clift with two ace serves and a kill. Shae McCain had an assist.
Wellsville did not field enough players for an eighth-grade B team matchup, so the Mustang B team played against each other.
Carlin and assistant coach Gabi Brite said the scrimmage allowed players such as Hannah Wardlaw Loman to shine. “Hannah has really improved and had some great serves tonight,” Carlin said.
Kyndal Bycrot, Harper Desmarteuau, and Kealie Keeler also had several strong serves, while Mayah Shaughnessy had several good passes and Mallegha Molina impressed with her strong play at the net, Carlin added.
WELLSVILLE prevailed in the seventh-grade matchups, winning the A team affair, 25-9, 25-12, 25-16 and the B team contest, 25-9, 26-24.
Iola head coach Aubrey Westhoff noted both teams struggled with their serves, “but in their defense, we’ve played a lot of volleyball in the past week, making them extremely tired and sore.”
In the A team contest, Avery Martin and Stephanie Fees played well at the net, Westhoff said.
“Stephanie is starting to get the idea of how to play the net as a setter: knowing when to set it to her teammates, pass it over and tip it to the other team.”
Lily Lohman led the A team with two ace serves, followed by India Barney with an ace.
Tessa Brutchen and Martin teamed up for a sparkling play at the end of the second set for one of the Mustangs’ final points.
Westhoff also praised Samantha Stogsdill and Madison Karns for their play in the third set.
Lohman led the Mustang B team with three aces, followed by Faith Warden with two aces. Fees and Hall each had an ace. Martin had two kills and Raven Tomlinson had one.
