BULRINGTON — An up-and-down night for Iola High volleyball led to a 1-1 record as the team contested a pair of its last matches of the season at Burlington.
In their first match against Osawatomie, Iola raced out to a great start, never trailing by more than four points in the first set. The second set saw Iola once again come out of the gates strong, opening up with a 9-0 lead before Osawatomie could get a chance to serve.
Both sets would end in the Mustangs’ favor, with the first ending 25-17, and the second ending 25-18 to give Iola the match win.
“We got some aggressive serves in against Osawatomie,” remarked head coach Amanda Holman. “We only had one missed serve in the match. That was big for us because when we serve, tough teams can’t hit us and that proved to be true against Osawatomie.”
Jenna Curry led the way offensively with six aces, while Kaysin Crusinbery had 17 assists. Defensively, Chloe Sell had eight digs.
From there, Iola would endure an over two-hour wait before their final contest of the night. The seniors were also honored in a brief ceremony prior to their final game.
Iola started slow in the final match before closing the Burlington lead within two points, but Burlington would take the set 25-22. The second set was much of the same. Iola tied the set multiple times before Burlington won 25-23 to sweep the Mustangs.
“We need to eliminate our errors,” said Holman after the loss to Burlington. “In the first set against Burlington we missed four serves. Missed serves are why the Burlington match didn’t go the way we wanted it to.”
Reese Curry had four kills against Burlington to lead the Mustangs while Aysha Houk had 13 kills to lead the Iola defense.
Iola is 7-19 on the season with a tournament on Saturday, and a final regular season match next Tuesday, both in Garnett.
