by volleyball coaches
The West Grand Mustang volleyball team won their season opener on Tuesday at home against North Park. The Lady Mustangs won the match in four sets. In set one, the team had a very slow start and seemed to let the nerves get the best of them. The team was struggling to serve receive in order to get the ball set up.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 2-5 lead and continued to build to 11-17, at this point the Mustangs started getting their passing going, leading to some kills, getting them into rhythm and they started fighting back, this helped knock the lead down. However, it was too late as the Wildcats won the set 18-25. In set two, West Grand, now working together and having fun, jumped out to an early lead and was up 13-6 forcing a North Park timeout. Continuing to work together and build momentum, they went on to take the set 25-17.
Set three also started with the Mustangs jumping out to a good lead as the girls reacted to the ball well and found themselves up 8-2. They kept the lead for the rest of the set taking the win 25-18.
In the final set, West Grand didn’t start with the same intensity and was letting North Park hang around and stay in the game. West Grand took a time out at 4-7 to try and regain their momentum. They came out and took back the lead. At 16-12, the team then went on a six-point run looking to control the game, however the Wildcats came back with their own six-point run. Mustang were still up and at 22-20 was battling for the win. The match became tied at 23. With the gym rocking and both crowds very loud supporting their teams, West Grand got a loss of rally point and scored the final point to take their first victory of the season. West Grand missed two crucial serves at the end of the match helping North Park tie up the game. “These are controllable errors that have to be eliminated,” said Coach Kim Bodemann.
She added, “I’m very happy with what the ladies did in their first match and to get it under our belt. We have got to serve receive better! We can be the best hitters around, but if we can’t pass the ball we won’t win. Games are won and lost on serve receive.” Coach Scott Terryberry commented, “I’m happy with how the girls did in their first game, but we need to improve on the passing side of the game, and I know we will. I’m looking forward to seeing where the girls can take us this season.”
Leading the way in kills was senior Emma DeSanti with 13 and sophomore Alex Schake added 10 of her own. Junior Josy Wheatley had 22 assists as DeSanti contributed 14. On the defensive side of the ball, Schake had 15 digs, as DeSanti had 14, and Senior Mikayla Shearer dug up 13 hits. The Lady Mustangs have five seniors out this year, DeSanti, Shearer, Charish Jansen, Madison Jump, and Maya Ramirez. They are joined by three juniors, three sophomores, and six freshmen. The JV team was very nervous during warmups and in the huddle before the start of their match. However, they did a great job at getting it under control very early in the match gaining an advantage of 14-7. But the team let North Park back in when they went on a six-point run. West Grand would go on to win the set 25-22. The final set would be a close one right up until the end with the score never more than a two-point difference. With such a close battle it came down to who could keep their composure as young players and finish the game.
The Lady Mustangs would do this and finish their first match of the season with a 26-24 victory!”
“I’m super happy with how the girls played!” said Coach Bodemann.
