The WCHS volleyball team took the court for the first time in the regular season Monday night at WCHS, splitting a three-team match to finish 1-1.
The Lady Pioneers faced the Van Buren County Eagleettes in their first match and the Coffee County Lady Raiders in their second match.
The first match against the Eagleettes was pure domination from the start for the Lady Pioneers as they won in straight sets, 25-14 and 25-9.
Bethany Fye ended the match with nine aces, while Emily Mikkola finished with seven. Lauren Hennessee had seven assists from the setter’s position and Hailey Wood had four. Fye also led the team in kills with four and had the lone block of the game for the Lady Pioneers, while Marah Wanamaker added two kills.
Lady Pioneer head coach Katie Rogers had this to say about the team’s performance against the Eaglettes.
“This was our first home match of the season. The girls had a mix of emotions. At times they were excited and executed the game plan well and other times they were unsure of themselves. I am pleased with the score, but we had way too many missed serves. We had a total of 10 missed serves, which is unacceptable in a best-of-3 match. We have to get our serves in.”
In the second match of the night, the Lady Pioneers went up against their rival, the Coffee County Lady Raiders.
The Lady Pioneers won the first set, but failed to gain another victory over the Lady Raiders as they fell, 26-24, in set two and 25-23 in set three to lose the match.
Fye led the way again with three aces from the serving position. Fye also led in the kills, blocks and digs column, with 14, three and 11, respectively. Hennessee had double-digit assists with 13. Wood added four.
Hope Mullican added five kills for the Lady Pioneers. Mikkola contributed eight digs in the contest, along with Brooke Murphy’s five.
The Lady Pioneers looked good at times, but Rogers thinks the team still needs some work.
“It was a very exciting, but stressful match. Again, we missed 10 serves and again, that is unacceptable in a best-of-3 match. Silly mistakes cost us this one. We had moments of greatness where it looked like no one could stop us, especially if we began with a good pass.”
Rogers added, “There were moments where we couldn’t anticipate the ball or read around the blocks. I think that with a little bit more time, we will gel better and not make as many mistakes.”
Rogers concluded, “There is still a bright road ahead of us.”
The Lady Pioneers were back in action yesterday as they traveled to Cannon County to take on the Lionettes. Results weren’t available at press time.