PLEASANTON — Marmaton Valley High’s volleyball team opened 2013 Saturday with a 3-2 mark at the Three Rivers League Tournament, good for fourth place overall. DESPITE not winning a match, Crest still offered several reasons for hope, head coach Abigail Hermreck said. CREST AND Marmaton Valley also were in Madison Tuesday to open regular season play. CREST dropped two other matches, falling 25-9, 26-24 to Hartford and 25-7, 25-17 to Madison.
The Crest High Lady Lancers weren’t as fortunate, going 0-4 on the day.
The Wildcats defeated Northeast-Arma, Oswego and Crest in straight sets, while falling in straight sets to Uniontown and St. Paul.
A quartet of Wildcats led the way in Marmaton Valley’s 25-16, 25-10 over Northeast. Kaitlin Ensminger had six points and four kills, Mackenzie Tynon pounded down seven kills and Emily Meiwes and Kaysha Elmenhorst had eight and six points, respectively.
In the 25-15, 25-14 loss to Uniontown, Tynon had eight kills.
The Wildcats defeated Crest 25-15, 25-18, behind Meiwes’ eight points, Ensminger’s six points and Ashlynn PInkerton’s four kills.
Marmaton Valley won a nail-biter over Oswego, 25-22, 29-27. Pinkerton had 13 points, followed Elmenhorst with nine. Ensminger had seven kills, while Tapanga Turner and Tynon delivered four kills each.
Ensminger had six points for the Wildcats in their 25-8, 25-16 loss to St. Paul.
The Lady Lancers took Northeast-Arma to three sets before falling 25-16, 19-25, 25-20.
“Everyone was moving and communicating” in the match, Hermreck said. “We had a lot of hustle plays and intensity.”
In addition to the loss to Marmaton Valley, Crest fell 25-10, 25-9 to Uniontown and 25-19, 25-17 to Oswego.
“We competed with all of the teams we played in spurts,” Hermreck said. “Our serve receive hurt us a lot and we did not utilize our hitters.
“I know the girls want everything to come together right away, but it will take some time,” Hermreck continued. “We are working hard to move forward, and even though we didn’t get a win on Saturday, I am seeing a ton of positives happening. We will continue to work hard at practice on the little things that we can control.
Freshman Miranda Golden had eight kills and senior Emily Frank had seven kills and served 96 percent from the line. Laurel Godderz had a 90 percent serve mark.
The Wildcats improved to 5-3 overall by going 2-1 on the night, falling to host Madison in three sets, 21-25, 25-17, 25-23, then sweeping past Hartford, 25-20, 25-21, and Crest, 25-19, 25-16.
Tynon, Ensminger and Elmenhorst each had eight points against Madison. Tynon and Ensminger had nine and five kills, respectively.
Against Hartford, Turner and Elmenhorst led the way with six points each. Tynon had six kills, Ensminger five.
Against Crest, Elmenhorst had nine points and Turner six. Ensminger, Turner and Tynon each had three kills.
Hermreck praised Crest’s efforts in its second game against Hartford.
“It was an exciting match,” she said. “The girls were fired up and began to put plays together.” Freshmen Miranda Golden and Laurel Godderz each had ace serves late in the match.
The Lady Lancers were tentative in the start of their match against Madison, although the second game was an improvement, Hermreck said.
“We played tough against Moran,” she continued. Madison Covey had an ace serve against the Wildcats.
Crest’s leading servers on the night were Tiffany Jackman, who was 100 percent on her serve attempts, Covey, junior libero, who was at 90 percent, senior middle Emily Frank, 90 percent and three aces, and freshman setter Karlee Hammond, at 89 percent.
Crest resumes play Tuesday at St. Paul. The Wildcat junior varsity is at Yates Center Monday. The varsity squad is at Yates Center Tuesday.
Wildcat, Lady Lancer squads hit courts
