Tuesday evening featured a little — or make that a lot — of everything.
Thrilling, down-to-the-wire sets?
Check.
A raucous crowd screaming with delight at every point?
Check.
And a young Iola High volleyball team taking another step forward?
You guessed it.
The Mustangs had their fans on the edges of their seats from start to finish.
First, Iola battled to the end in winning a three-set thriller over Osawatomie.
The Mustangs dropped the first set, 29-27, before rebounding to take the next two and the match, 25-15 and 25-18.
Then, Iola started slowly against Burlington, falling 25-7, in the first set before a wondrous second set that wasn’t decided until Burlington’s Josie Fejfar delivered an ace to finish off the back-and-forth battle to win 27-25.
“We won’t talk about the first set,” Iola head coach Amanda Holman said with a wry grin. “But the second set was fun. It was everything. Yes, we didn’t come out on top, but that was an amazing game.”
Perhaps most importantly, was how the set illustrated Iola’s players were willing to do whatever necessary to win.
One crucial rally late in the Burlington match featured back-to-back diving saves from Iola’s Jenna Curry and Chloe Sell, eliciting a standing ovation from the crowd — while play was still going.
“I preach, especially to our younger girls, not to play scared,” Holman said. “If you play not to lose, you’re going to lose.”
Message delivered.
Trailing 25-24 against Burlington, Iola’s Reese Curry blasted a thunderous kill across the court after Burlington had anticipated a short tap at the net.
Holman couldn’t help but smile at the play.
She explained her players have a green, yellow or red light strategy during rallies. If conditions are prime to go for a kill, every player has a green light to slug away.
“If the setup isn’t perfect, you just want to get the ball across,” Holman explained. “But if everything is perfect and lined up for you, you better be swinging away.”
Alas, the fun came to an end after that. A return volley was ruled out, leading to Fejfar’s game-sealing ace.
