NOW 8-1 ON THE SEASON

By William / www.mcpherson-county-ks.com

ABILENE – The Smoky Valley volleyball, ranked number one in Class 3A, continued their strong start to the 2021 season by sweeping all three matches in a quad at Abilene on Thursday.

All three matches were won in straight sets, with the Lady Vikings beating Thomas More Prep to begin the day 25-20, 25-17 before sweeping Concordia 25-14, 25-13 and then finishing out the road trip by taking down host Abilene 25-19, 25-20.

“The teams at the Abilene Quad are high quality teams who have a rich history of volleyball success so the fact that we swept all three teams was amazing,” exclaimed Lady Viking head coach Sharlene Ramsey. “Thomas More Prep is state ranked and are well coached. Our players have such great chemistry, and they truly play for one another.”

Madi Tolle led the team with 19/21 on serves while gaining 11 blocks of which three were solo plus making 18 digs and six kills.

Other individual highlights from the meet were Adrian Hazelwood getting 28/29 serves and 72 assists; Laini Haigh going 22/25 on serves with two aces; Abby Rose making 18 digs and 28 kills; Avery Vanderwege scoring 30/32 on serves with a pair of aces to go with 16 digs and Hope Duncan getting 27/28 serves with seven aces while also scoring 25 digs and 20 kills.

Coach Ramsey concluded her post-meet reflections by saying, “Madi (Tolle) was just incredible tonight at the net with blocking and hitting while Avery (Vanderwege) held us in the game with her defense and serving. Overall, it was just a great performance by all our players tonight.”

The wins raise the Lady Vikings season mark to 8-1, they will be back on the home court on Tuesday when they play host to Hays.

SMOKY VALLEY LADY VIKING RESULTS FROM ABILENE QUAD:

LADY VIKINGS beat Thomas More Prep 25-20, 25-17.

LADY VIKINGS beat Concordia 25-14, 25-13.

LADY VIKINGS beat Abilene 25-18, 25-20.

SMOKY VALLEY LADY VIKING INDIVIDUAL STATS:

MADI TOLLE = 19/21 serve; 3 solo blocks with 8 assisted blocks; 18 digs; 6 kills.

ADRIAN HAZELWOOD = 28/29 serve; 3 solo blocks with 2 assisted blocks; 14 digs; 72 assists.

LAINI HAIGH = 22/25 serve with 2 ace serves; 5 digs.

BREANNE PETERS = 4/4 serves; 4 digs.

CHLOE PATRICK = 5 digs.

AUBREY BOLDRA = 1 assisted block; 13 digs; 9 kills.

ABBY ROSE = 8/11 serve with 2 ace serves; 2 solo blocks; 19 digs; 3 assists; 28 kills.

KATJA BLANCHAT = 4 assisted blocks; 5 digs; 5 kills.

HOPE DUNCAN = 27/28 serve with 7 ace serves; 1 assisted block; 25 digs; 20 kills.

AVERY VANDERWEGE = 30/32 serve with 2 ace serves; 16 digs.

{Smoky Valley Viking Activity Postings is looking for SPONSORS – $40/month, inquiry to William at crossdovewriter@gmail.com}