While there weren’t many wins on the scoreboard Saturday, Iola Middle School’s seventh-grade volleyball teams showed steady improvement during the competition.
The setting was the Iola Net Games tournament, featuring middle-schoolers from Marmaton Valley, Chanute and Independence.
Because the tournament was short one team, IMS head coach Aubrey Westhoff suited up both her A and B teams.
The primary goal is to serve as a developmental competition.
Iola’s A team fell to Marmaton Valley, 25-10 and 25-13; to Royster Middle School of Chanute, 25-7 and 25-9; and to Independence, 25-10 and 25-10. Iola’s A team also played a match against its B team, with the A-teamers prevailing, 25-13 and 25-8.
In addition to the intrasquad match, Iola’s B team fell to Royster, 25-7 and 25-8; to Independence, 25-7 and 25-15; and to Marmaton Valley, 25-14 and 25-12.
Westhoff found positives in each match.
She noted that though the A team got off to a slow start against Marmaton Valley, “we gradually got our feet underneath us and started playing well.”
She praised India Barney’s hustle in the match against Royster. “Faith (Evans) did a great job of following the ball to the line. Avery (Martin) had some amazing passes that were spot on where we needed them to be.”
Against Independence, Westhoff noted Iola’s Izzy Tyson gave the team a spark with her play at the net. “As a whole we did a much better job of trying to set the ball up so we could get our hitters chances to hit.”
Kandrella McCullough and Barney led the way for the A team with five aces apiece against the Mustang B team. Evans added four aces, Tyson had three; Hall and Lily had two apiece, and Madelyn Ashworth one.
Evans also had a nice attack, Westhoff said.
“The girls did a great job playing each other,” she said. “They had good passes to the setter, the setter set our girls, and they had some great serves. I just wish they would have started doing this earlier in the day.”
Iola’s B team highlights included Aurora Parker Collins service play against Royster, and the team’s improvement as a whole in the second set against Independence.
“The girls had a huge turn-around in this game,” she said. “They were believing in themselves and that they could compete with these teams. It was amazing to watch them grow while they were playing the Bulldogs.”
