PITTSBURG — Iola Middle School’s volleyball teams came up short on the scoreboard Thursday, but may have played some of their best matches of the season, both teams’ head coaches said.
In eighth-grade play, Iola’s A team fell to Pittsburg Middle School, 25-13 and 25-13, while the Mustang B team dropped a 25-15, 25-13 decision.
“The scores from both A team and B team aren’t indicative of how well the girls really played,” head coach Terri Carlin said. “Pittsburg had some good servers and attackers. Our A team has some great passers. They don’t let the ball hit the ground and play pretty tough. We are able to get the ball up, but struggle ending the play with a hit. I was proud of how they handled those serves and hits.”
Madison Hall had one kill and one assist for Iola’s A team. India Barney had an ace, as did Kandrella McCullough. Arianna Werner had a kill and Bella Rahming two blocks.
Stephanie Fees led the B team with three ace serves and an assist.
“Stephanie has been working on her serve,” Carlin said. “It was great to see her successful with it tonight.”
Carly Kramer, Madelyn Ashworth and Lily Lohman each had an ace serve. Lohman and Nevaeh Hancock had one kill each.
THE MUSTANG seventh-graders also fought hard, but could not come up with a win.
The A team dropped a 25-22 and 25-15 match.
Sheridan Byrd and Brooklyn Holloway each served up five aces. Zoie Hesse, Dally Curry and Kaydra Scheibmeir had an ace apiece as well. Holloway had six kills, followed by Byrd, Hesse, Emma Michael and Abigail Jerome with one kill each
“The girls did an excellent job of getting a good pass, setting the ball up, and hitting the ball tonight,” head coach Aubrey Westhoff said. “This was the best they did so far talking and hustling after the ball this season. It was so fun to watch them play tonight.”
The seventh-grade B team took their match the full three sets before falling, 25-18, 22-25 and 15-5.
Lainey Oswald, Melody Norman and Annie House each had three saves.
Westhoff said Oswald’s serving got Iola off to a good start in the match.
Lacarea Eads also had two aces. Zoe Warner and Ay’Real Davis also had aces. Keysha Smith led the team with her passing. Hesse also passed well, while Maddie McDermeit played well at the net, Westhoff noted.
