BURLINGTON — Iola Middle School’s eighth-grade and seventh-grade volleyball teams went 1-2 in Saturday’s Burlington Middle School tournament.
In the eighth-grade division, Iola lost to Burlington 25-8, 25-21 then was beaten by Chanute’s Royster Middle School 25-14, 25-10. The Ponies bounced back to claim a 25-17, 25-17 win over Prairie View.
“We matched up pretty well against Prairie View. We were very similar teams,” said Terri Carlin, IMS eighth-grade head coach. “Our tough and consistent serves really helped us in this match.”
Iola’s seventh-grade team also lost to Burlington 25-13, 25-9 and to Royster 25-20, 25-13 in its division. The Ponies battled Prairie View in a three-set match winning 25-17, 22-25, 15-13.
Competing in the morning is totally new for middle school girls and I could tell that the girls came out sluggish against Burlington,” said Stacy Sprague, IMS seventh-grade head coach. “Serving and passing accuracy really played a huge part in our lack of success. The girls know that if we don’t serve well, we won’t win and are focused for this week.”
Sprague said Jayden Sigg came out and played well for the team and served fantastically.
Carlin said the eighth-grade was overpowered in the first set against Burlington and reacted better in the second set. Valaree Burtnett came off the bench in the second set to give the Ponies a spark.
Burtnett had two ace serves, two kills and made some “great plays at the net,” Carlin said. Elise Wolf had two ace serves, one set assist and a kill for Iola against Burlington. Taylor Sell had two ace serves and a kill and Abigail Taylor had one ace serve.
In the match with Royster, Wolf served two aces, had one kill and one set assist. Sell and Taylor each served up two aces and Taylor Heslop had one ace. Mikaela Platt put down a kill and Ashlie Shields had a set assist.
“Elise was probably our consistent player all day. Her leadership and confidence helped us get the win on our final match of the day,” Carlin said. “She led us with nine straight serves in the first set. Elise had five aces in the match along with two kills and two assists. Taylor Heslop had some good passes for us.”
Platt served four aces for Iola in the Prairie View match. McKayli Cleaver had three ace serves and one kill. Taylor and Shields each had an ace serve. Burtnett and Sell had a kill apiece.
IMS volleyball teams play in BMS tourney
