Iola Middle School’s squads continued to show evidence of their rapid improvement during a busy weekend at a home tournament Saturday and another full night of volleyball on Monday at Prairie View.
The Mustang A team defeated Prairie View Monday in all three sets, 27-25, 25-15 and 25-18.
Iola’s B team fell, 25-15 and 25-13, and the C team came out on the short end of a 25-14, 25-10 setback.
Prairie View used the same squad, “a solid group of eighth-graders,” Iola eighth grade head coach Stacy Sprague said, for all three matches because it had only eight players.
“Our girls played well, but we still need to work on moving our feet to get to the ball and covering the gaps,” Sprague said.
In the A team match, Haidyn Desmarteau and Kashyn Curry had 15 and 14 good passes, respectively, while Kinzley Fountain followed with 12. Curry and Lily Jerome each had a pair of aces. Camryn Wille and Bayleigh Scheibmeir each had aces as well. Kinzley Fountain had 12 good passes, while Hannah Thompson had eight.
Leaders for the B team were Scheibmer with 10 good passes and Blayke Folk with 10. Macie Stokes-Huntsinger had a pair of aces; Jayna Ivy had one.
Mary Burris led the C team with two aces and five good passes. Athena Cook and Danika Hill had three good passes and one ace apiece.
THE MUSTANG seventh-graders put forth quite a show as well.
The A team battled back and forth in a five-set classic before Prairie View eked out a 25-12, 18-25, 25-19, 20-25 and 19-17 victory.
“These were the best games the girls had ever played,” seventh-grade coach Aubrey Westhoff said. “I’m so proud of them. The growth in them has been great.”
Cora Boren served up eight aces, followed by Keira Goranson with four, Moira Springer and Hilary Gean each with three, Leanna Flory with two and Mariah Mathis and Brynna Jelinek with one each. Springer, Gean, Jelinek and Goranson also had several good passes.
The seventh-grade B team lost a pair of nail biters, 27-25 and 26-24.
“Great games,” Westhoff said. “We just came up short.”
Nebula Burrow had a pair of aces. Helena Morrison, Willow Clemmer, Burrow and Flory all had quality passes.
