Lady Indians Defeat Titans; Lose to Wildcats
On Tuesday, October 15, the Lady Indians split their matches with Triplains-Brewster and Wallace County. The Lady Indians defeated Triplains-Brewster 25-6, 25-10 in two quick sets. Wallace County won the final match of the evening in three competitive sets 16-25, 25-18, 24-26. St. Francis defeated Wallace County 25-14, 25-16 in the only junior varsity match of the evening at the Grade School.
In the first varsity match of the evening, the Lady Indians waisted little time defeating the Lady Titans from Triplains-Brewster. St. Francis did not allow the Lady Titans to score a three-point run in either set of the match. Meanwhile, the Lady Indians earned 8 runs in the two sets with five of the runs being four or more points in length. Triplains-Brewster (TB) won the first two volleys of set one on two Lady Indian errors. Preventing a three-point run was a service error. The first kill in the contest came from TB's Laura Peterson (5' 7" So.) moving the score to 2-3. A kill by Rian Zimbal gave the Lady Indians their first lead 4-3. Some consistent serving by Ellee Krien (1 ace) and additional kills by Hannah Zimbal (2) and Emma Johnson advanced the score to 10-4. Kattie Wurm served up an extended run of 13 Lady Indian points to finalize the match. In the run, kills were earned by Rian Zimbal, Jesslynn Houtman (2), Mia Morrow, and Emma Johnson. Morrow and Johnson also recorded stuff-blocks. St. Francis won set one 25-6.
Mia Morrow earned a kill on the opening volley of set two, but Laura Peterson followed with a kill for TB on the next exchange. Peterson's stuff-block gave the Lady Titans a brief lead, but two TB errors moved the Lady Indians back in front. Another Peterson stuff tied the set at 3-all, but the Lady Indians would never trail again. Hannah Zimbal's stuff of a Peterson attack and an ace from Morrow moved the advantage to 6-3. The Lady Indians soon earned a run of 6 points increasing the lead to 12-4. The run included two kills by Hannah Zimbal and a well-placed tip by Emma Johnson. After an attack error ended the run, the Lady Indians received a kill from Johnson, an ace from Karly Bandel, and a kill by Rian Zimbal to lead 15-5. The final volley also featured two outstanding saves by Bandel and Morrow. A kill by Peterson ended the run, but soon the Lady Indians were piecing together another one. This 5-point run included a Houtman stuff of a TB over-pass, an ace by Kattie Wurm, as well as 3 attack errors by the Lady Titans. The Lady Indians finalized the match receiving only one more kill (Morrow), but scoring on several TB miscues. St. Francis won set two 25-10.
Wallace County defeated Triplains-Brewster in the second match of the evening. After the TB-WC match, a Senior Night recognition was held for the senior volleyball team members and their parents. Seniors recognized were: Karly Bandel (daughter of Matt and Mila Bandel), Audrey Meyer (daughter of Troy and Kary Meyer), Alondra Gomez (daughter of Julio and Blanca Yanez), Perla Yanez (daughter of Javier and Esther Yanez), Hannah Zimbal (daughter of Eric and Dawn Harper), and Cassidy Busse (daughter of Cory and Jenny Busse).
The Wallace County match was competitive throughout with both teams making many excellent plays. The outcome of the match was not decided until the final volleys as the teams battled back-and-forth. An early kill by Mia Morrow placed the Lady Indians on the scoreboard, but three errors gave the Lady Wildcats a 1-3 lead. St. Francis took a 4-3 advantage receiving two kills from Morrow and a stuff-block from Jordyn Faulkender. A deep-tip by Hannah Zimbal moved the score to 5-4. Wallace County's (WC) first kill came from senior Aubrey Kuhlman returning the lead to the Lady Cats (6-7). A second three-point WC run increased the deficit to 7-11 and included an ace by Kuhlman and kills by MaKenna Chaney (Jr.) and Jesse Carman (Jr.). A strong kill by Emma Johnson reduced the margin to two (9-11), and a kill by Morrow moved the Lady Indians within one (11-12). An over-pass stuff by Hannah Zimbal tied the set at 12, but the play was soon followed by a scoring tip from WC's Haylee Hennick (Sr.). A stuff by Faulkender, a kill by Morrow, and over-pass tip by Hannah Zimbal again pulled the Lady Indians within one at 15-16, but the Lady Indians would not lead in the set again. Three kills by Hennick, an ace by Kuhlman, and three SF miscues helped close the set on a 7-point WC run. St. Francis lost set one 16-25.
WC opened set two with a three-point run. An aggressive kill and a stuff by Mia Morrow started the scoring for the Lady Indians. A 3-point SF run ending with an over-set kill by Jordyn Faulkender gave SF their first lead of the set (5-4). Kills by each of the Zimbal sisters extended the margin to 7-5. A five-point Lady Indian run triggered a WC time-out at 12-6. In the run, Karly Bandel served an ace, Hannah Zimbal scored a kill, and Emma Johnson recorded a stuff. The run increased to 7 consecutive points with the addition of an off-the-block kill by Johnson and a stuff by Hannah Zimbal on a Kuhlman attack. Jessie Carman ended the run with a kill for the Lady Wildcats. The next SF run increased the margin to 17-7 and included an ace by Kattie Wurm and a strong spike by Morrow following a outstanding dig by Ellee Krien. Kuhlman interrupted the fun with an aggressive kill for WC, but Johnson scored on a dump-set on the following volley. Trailing 18-8, the Lady Cats earned a 6-point run to narrow the margin to four (18-14). The action included three kills by Haylee Hennick along the way. A scoring spike and tip by Morrow ended the WC run. Another Hennick kill was answered by a Faulkender spike. A kill by WC's Tori Springsteel (Jr.) was followed by a stuff on a Kuhman attack by Hannah Zimbal. Zimbal then added an over-pass kill moving the score to 23-16 and triggering the final WC time-out. On the next volley, Zimbal recorded a stuff against Kuhlman again. Johnson ended the match with a final kill. The Lady Indians defeated WC 25-18 in set two.
The deciding set was marked by huge momentum swings. St. Francis earned early runs to build a big lead; WC earned late runs to overtake the Lady Indians. A 3-0 SF run included two kills by Mia Morrow early in the set. Leading 4-2, the Lady Indians earned a 7-point run to lead 11-3. The run featured three aces by Morrow and kills by Hannah and Rian Zimbal. A kill by Aubrey Kuhlman ended the run but was followed by another kill by Rian Zimbal on the ensuing volley. A 3-point run ending in a Kuhlman kill narrowed the margin to 12-7, but was followed by a 3-point SF run including an ace by Karly Bandel. Kills by Emma Johnson, Morrow (2), and Haylee Hennick; as well as an ace by WC's MaKenna Chaney helped advance the scoreboard to 19-11. WC then earned a 3-point run consisting of a tip-kill by Hennick, a stuff by Carmen, and an ace by Hennick. St. Francis used a time-out at 19-14 to re-group and followed with a kill by Hannah Zimbal. The next WC run narrowed the margin to 20-18. With the Lady Indians leading 22-19, WC earned a 5-point run to take the lead for the first time in the set 22-24. The run resulted from an ace by Kuhlman and four SF errors. A stuff and an over-set kill by Hannah Zimbal retied the match at 24-all, but back-to-back kills by WC's Hennick resulted in a Lady Wildcat win, 24-26.
St. Francis will compete in the NWKL Volleyball Tournament in Oberlin on Saturday, October 19.
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