Central volleyball starts season 0-7
By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register
The Central volleyball season has gotten off to a rough start, with the Warriors losing all seven matches and winning just two sets along the way.
The Warriors opened the season in the Lisbon Classic Tournament on Aug. 24. In the first game, they took on the Lisbon Lions, losing both sets 25-6 and 25-12. The offense managed three assists, all from Elizabeth Royer, and struggled with kills, finishing the game with just three kills on 38 attempts. Lexi Loan, Isabelle Groth and Alyson Feickert got one kill each.
Defensively, the team struggled to get blocks and digs, coming away with four blocks, two by Kaitlyn Scherf and one apiece from Loan and Gracie Cummer.
On the serving end, Central got one ace from new player and exchange student Giorgia Baiguini and finished with an 88.9 percent efficiency.
The Warriors’ next game was against East Buchanan, and while it was more competitive, they lost both sets 21-13 and 21-18.
The Central offense performed better, getting seven assists, including five from Royer and two from Baiguini. The Warriors also finished with eight kills on 38 attempts, led by Feickert with three and Groth with two.
The defense came through with five blocks, two from Chelsia Larson, two from Groth and one from Kaitlyn Scherf. The team also had seven digs, with Brandy Beatty and Feickert leading the way with two apiece.
The serving—again led by Baiguini—finished with seven aces on 29 attempts. Three were from Baiguini, and Royer served up two. The Warriors had an 89.7 percent serve efficiency for the game.
Next up for the Warriors was Clayton Ridge, who won 25-20 in straight sets. The offense continued to show minor improvements, coming away with eight kills on 36 attempts as well as eight assists. Royer and Baiguini each had three. On the kills side, four players, Loan, Cummer, Larson and Feickert, each had two.
The defense also showed its toughness, especially when it came to blocks, amassing another five. Two came from Larson, and Cummer, Scherf and Groth had one each.
The Warriors added more digs to the state line, with Loan and Feickert each getting three and Royer finishing with two.
Central took a step backward in serving, however, ending the game with just one ace from Feickert, even though serve efficiency was up to 96.6 percent.
The Warriors finished the tournament losing to Alburnett, despite playing their best game of the season up to that point. The team finished with 18 assists, 13 from Royer and five from Baiguini, and also had 19 kills, with Feickert leading the way with six. Loan added four kills, while Cummer, Larson and Groth each got three.
On the defensive side of the net, the Warriors produced 12 blocks, four by Scherf and Larson, three by Groth, two from Cummer and one from Loan. They also had 16 digs.
Serving was again back on track, with the Warriors serving up nine aces, led by Baiguini with four, followed by Royer with two and Alivia Keppler, Larson and Feickert each getting one.
The Warriors next took part in the Cascade Tournament on Aug. 28, where they lost all four matches.
The first defeat came in straight sets to Springville, 21-6 and 21-10. Then, against host Cascade, Central won the second set 21-13, but lost the match 2-1, as the Cougars won the first set 21-11 and the third 15-10.
Central finished the day dropping both sets, 21-10 and 21-8, to North Linn, before losing to Central City 21-18 and 21-11.
No stats were available for this tournament.
Head coach Mike Smith felt Central has played many teams well over the last few matches and is getting better.
“The battle tends to be with ourselves and not our opponents,” he commented. “We have many things going in the right directions, and of course we are disappointed with our results, but the girls are growing as a team and we have some big hurdles to overcome before we get to the next level.”
The Warriors look to rebound in the Midland Tournament on Sept. 4, where they will take on winless Marquette Catholic in game one, followed by 3-2 North Cedar in game two.
