Lady Indians Sweep Idalia
The Lady Indians earned a three-set sweep of the Idalia Lady Wolves on Thursday, August 30, in St. Francis. St. Francis won the first set 25-16 and then took the next two sets 25-23, 25-20. The Lady Indians junior varsity defeated Idalia in a best-of-3 match 25-17, 25-21. All games were played in the St. Francis High School Gymnasium.
The evening began with the junior varsity match. Both sets were close throughout most of each set, but the Lady Indians made enough good plays to earn an advantage in each set to take the match victory. Jordyn Faulkender scored the first point of set one with a tip kill. Trailing 2-4, the Lady Indians received a block by Faulkender, a kill by Faulkender, and an ace from Bailey Workman to take a slim 5-4 lead. The Lady Wolves scored the next three points before the Lady Indians scored again, this time on a back-row kill by McKenna Poling. Tied at 10-all, Poling earned another kill. Audrey Meyer followed with an ace serve for the Lady Indians, and St. Francis never trailed again. A 5-point St. Francis run, including an ace by Kattie Wurm and an off-the-block kill by Poling, moved the scoreboard to 16-11 and triggered an Idalia time-out. Though the Wolves earned a kill to stop the run, St. Francis soon added a three-point run increasing the margin to 20-12. The 3-point run included an ace by Poling. St. Francis closed the set on an ace by Audrey Meyer to win 25-17.
St. Francis earned the first point in set two when Perla Yanez made a nice dig that landed on the Wolves court unplayed. Three consecutive errors by the Lady Indians caused them to trail, but soon a back-row kill by Kattie Wurm, an alignment error by the Wolves, and well-placed ball by Jordyn Faulkender earned a 4-3 advantage. Another kill by Wurm gave the Lady Indians a 5-4 lead. Wurm's third kill moved the scoreboard to 8-7. Idalia then won 6 of the next 7 volleys to place St. Francis at a 9-13 disadvantage before missing a serve to slow the momentum. Soon kills by Wurm and Alondra Gomez tied the match at 13-all. The set would have 8 ties and 4 lead changes as it progressed. Trailing 14-17, the Lady Indians earned a 3-point run to tie the set at 17-all on an ace by Faulkender. Idalia answered with a kill, but then missed a service attempt to tie the match for the last time (18-all). St. Francis took the next point on a passing error, and Audrey Meyer followed with an ace serve. A first-ball-over kill by the the Lady Indians caused Idalia to call time-out to regroup trailing 21-18. The the Lady Wolves would pull within one point (21-20), but the Lady Indians earned a 25-21 win in set two.
In varsity action, the Lady Indians defeated Idalia in three straight matches. The teams battled evenly in the early portion of set one. A kill by Mia Morrow and a strong middle hit by Jessica Confer gave the Lady Indians a 5-4 advantage. Though Morrow earned two more kills in the next few volleys, the Lady Indians trailed again until an ace by Karly Bandel moved the score to 9-8. The Lady Indians used a 6-point run to take a 12-8 advantage before Idalia had seen enough and called time-out. Another 3-point run, including two kills by Confer and a dump-set by Lauren Johnson, increased the advantage to 16-10. Back-to-back kills by Emma Johnson and Hannah Zimbal (deep-tip) moved the scoreboard to 18-12. The Lady Indians increased the margin to seven points (23-14) on another kill by Morrow and held on to win set one 25-16.
Two consecutive kills by Jessica Confer and an ace by Mia Morrow gave St. Francis an early 3-1 lead in set two. A 4-point run increased the St. Francis lead to 9-4, but soon the Lady Wolves retied the set at 9-all with a back-row attack. The Lady Indians answered with three straight points including a stuff block by Lauren Johnson on the Wolves outstanding hitter, Shafer. Idalia soon retied the set at 12-all. A tip-kill by Confer gave St. Francis the lead for good at 14-13. In the next few volleys, Confer added another kill, and Lauren Johnson served two aces bringing the score to 17-14. A 4-point run widened the gap to 21-15 and included a nice deep-tip by Lauren Johnson. The Lady Wolves continued to battle and reduced the margin to 23-21 before the Lady Indians closed the set with a Confer kill. St. Francis won game two 25-23.
In set three, both teams scored runs of three or more points only twice. St. Francis jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead getting a block and over-pass kill from Jessica Confer, two aces from Mia Morrow, and kills from Lauren Johnson and Lindsey Johnson. The addition of a tip-kill by Confer and an ace by Lauren Johnson moved the advantage to 10-1. The margin grew to 13-2 following a tip-kill by Confer and kills by Lindsey Johnson and Emma Johnson. It was time for some of the Lady Indian substitutes to see some action. Idalia's Shafer followed with an aggressive kill. The next volley concluded when Emma Johnson stuffed Shafer's attack. Mia Morrow's ensuing ace increased the margin to 12 points (15-3). A three point run by the Lady Wolves pulled them within eight (16-8). The Wolves next run, 5 points in length, closed the gap to 20-16 and ended with a powerful spike by Shafer. The teams played almost evenly the rest of the way, with Morrow earning two kills in the last four volleys to help the Lady Indians earn a 25-20 victory.
The Lady Indians will play Weskan and Cheylin in Bird City on Tuesday, September 4.
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