THREE MATCHES MONDAY, ONE ON THURSDAY
By William
As the 2020 season winds down, the McPherson Middle School 8th grade volleyball teams had a busy week as they played a Quad at Newton on Monday with Salina Lakewood, Concordia and Newton before finishing the week with a dual at home on Thursday with Newton Chisholm.
MONDAY – QUAD AT NEWTON
‘A’ TEAM GOES 2-1
After losing a hard fought straight set match to Concordia (21-25, 22-25) by less than a total of seven points, the 8th grade Junior Lady Pup spikers bounced back to defeat both Salina Lakewood (26-24, 25-12) and Newton (25-21, 26-18) in straight sets to finish the day 2-1 and give them a 4-5 mark for the season.
“We faced a solid Concordia team to start the evening and both sets were tough,” explained 8th grade Head Coach Shelley Bohme. “They had one go-to hitter, but I thought we did a nice job of adjusting. We got some touches and blocks and had some great rallies. In set one against Salina Lakewood it was closer than it should have been, with some missed serves and unforced errors. Kelby Boughfman had a nice servicing run in set two which was followed by another by Cora Pavlovich. Our communication was lacking a little in the Newton match, but I was proud of the girls for being able to finish it out with a win. Our hitters continue to improve with every game.”
Speaking of her players, Coach Bohme continued by saying, “Kelby Boughfman served the ball well while Cora Pavlovich, Addie Herrera, Haley Hagemann, and Josie Fitzmorris are starting to find their rhythm, getting some hits and blocks. Izabel Backhus is getting more aggressive at the net and was a consistent server tonight. Addison Chapman, Mallorie Cooper, and Kelby Boughfman are getting better at setting the ball up and getting it to our hitters. Kenzi Kaufman had some great passes from the back row tonight and stepped up with help when we were not able to get the ball to target. Addison, Haley, and Cora were phenomenal on defense, and each had some amazing hustle plays tonight. We need to continue to work on making good decisions, staying out of the net, and not missing serves.”
‘B’ TEAM GOES UNBEATEN AT NEWTON
The 8th grade ‘B’ volleyball team continued to have a superb season as they stayed unbeaten by winning all three of their matches at the quad in dominating straight sets.
The took down Concordia (25-4, 25-13), then dismantled Salina Lakewood (25-8-25-12) before closing out the day with a dominating performance over Newton (25-9, 25-4).
Coach Stevie Stockham had little to say in her post quad reflections, but did note, “The girls did a great job running a new rotation. We had awesome serving which really helped us win every game. Super proud of these young ladies.”
THURSDAY – DUAL WITH NEWTON
‘A’ TEAM BEATS NEWTON
The 8th grade ‘A’ volleyball team evened their season record at 5-5 on Thursday with a straight set dual win over Newton. In the first set, the Junior Lady Pups won a hard fought close 28-26 game before dominating Newton in the second set 25-12.
Head Coach Shelley Bohme noted, “The first set tonight was a great example of how tough these girls can be. We pulled ahead early and then allowed Newton to come back and tie. Addie Herrera had some great serving to put us up 15-9, and we were able to stay up until late in the game when Newton was stringing together a few more serves than we were. But we stepped it up with some fantastic net play and defense. We started doing the little things and making the hustle plays. The close game made us play with more excitement and energy than we have had all season.”
Coach Bohme concluded her reflections by saying, “In set two, Addison Chapman led the way with serving, followed by Addie Herrera as they combined for 15 of our points. On the night, Josie Fitzmorris, Cora Pavlovich, Haley Hagemann, Izabel Backhus, Addie Herrera, and Addison Chapman all played the net well, attacking and getting touches and blocks. Addison, Mallorie Cooper and Kelby Boughfman did a nice job of getting the ball to our hitters again tonight, and Mallorie had some great defense, along with Kenzi Kaufman. Haley and Cora also passed the ball well. It has been fun to see the progress these girls have made just in our shortened season as we are making fewer mistakes and starting to set the ball up more often.”
‘B’ TEAM STAYS UNBEATEN
Remaining unbeaten at 11-0 for the season, the 8th grade ‘B’ Junior Lady Pup spikers handled Newton in a dual on Thursday by scoring a straight set 25-19, 25-17 victory.
“Both sets of the game had really rocky starts,” noted Coach Stevie Stockham. “But the girls pulled out a win at the end. I can not believe we have just one more match left of the season. I am immensely proud of how much these girls have grown since the first match and we are hoping to stay undefeated.”
The McPherson Middle School 8th grade volleyball team will close out the 2020 season with a dual match at Salina Lakewood on Monday, October 5th.
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