Amanda Holman is optimistic that if Iola High’s volleyball team could just avoid a few mistakes, the Mustangs will become a force to be reckoned with, and quickly.
“It’s there,” she said. “I can see it.”
And Iola had stretches of brilliant play.
“We did a lot of good things,” Holman said. “A lot of good things.”
But Iola couldn’t overcome the occasional hiccup.
Tuesday’s losses to Prairie View and Anderson County illustrated her point.
Iola started slowly in both matches, then fought valiantly down the stretch before coming up just short, often due to unforced errors.
Iola fell, 25-15 and 25-23 to Prairie View, and 25-15, 25-21 to Independence.
“We’ve got to get over the hump,” Holman said. “We’ve got to take those close games and make them into close wins.”
In Iola’s match against Prairie View, the Buffalos scored the last six points of the first set to pull away for the victory. The second went back-and-forth. Iola forged ahead 15-11 before the Buffalos responded with a 6-2 run to get back into it. Another three-point Prairie View run pushed Iola behind for good.
Iola was paced by Reese Curry and Aysha Houk with four kills each. Kaysin Crusinbery notched 12 set assists, while Curry and Rio Lohman each had three blocks. Ally Ellis had a pair of assisted blocks as well. Chloe Sell and Houk led with eight and seven digs, respectively. Jenna Curry had the team’s only ace.
On the negative side of the ledger, 26 errors resulted in points for Prairie View — more than half of the Buffalos’ scoring.
A similar pattern followed against Anderson County.
The Bulldogs raced to a quick lead in the first set, 16-8, to take control of the 25-15 victory.
But in the second set, the teams traded points like baseball cards, with neither able to take control.
