By Becky Walz,
Although the South Winn volleyball team (0-1, 0-0 UIC) lost its opening two matches Thursday, the Warriors battled valiantly against Hudson (1-2) and Dunkerton (1-0).
South Winn lost a hard fought match in their season opener with Hudson, 2-1. Sets scores were 22-25, 25-18 and 7-15.
After some serving struggles to open the match, the Warriors settled in during set two, dominating the service line and at the net. A balanced attack of hitters kept Hudson off balance. Unfortunately, a slow start in the deciding third set put the Warriors in catch up mode and they couldn’t close the early setback.
“I felt really good on how we came out with our passing and offense in this match, and some early jitters prevented us from any kind of a run in the first set,” said Coach Alex Smith.
Three Warriors provided five kills including senior Ruthie Frana and sophomores Avery Humpal and Morgan Kleve. Alison Heying handed out 11 assists, while Eryn Luzum came away with 12 digs. At the service line Humpal went 12-for-13 with two aces.
After a dominating performance by Dunkerton in set one that ended up 6-25 in favor of the Raiders, the Warriors put up a great fight in set two falling just short by a score of 23-25.
“As disappointed as I was in how we competed against a quality team in the first set, I was very proud of how we battled in the second set to push Dunkerton to a competitive situation. They are the type of team that would contend for a conference title in our league so we wanted to see where we stood, and if we can grow for this matchup, I feel really good about where we can get moving forward,” said Coach Smith.
Josie Hemesath, Janessa Zweibahmer and Kleve each hammered out two kills in match two. Luzum was there for eight digs and it was Kleve’s run of serves that brought the Warriors back into game two. Overall, Kleve was 6-for-8 with three ace serves.
The Warriors will get back to work in the gym before Crestwood comes to Calmar Thursday, Sept. 2, at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 4, South Winn will be in action at the New Hampton tournament starting at 8 a.m.
Stats versus Hudson
Kills – Ruthie Frana, 5; Avery Humpal 5; Morgan Kleve 5; Katrina Hageman 4; Janessa Zweibahmer 1
Assists – Alison Heying 11; Eryn Luzum 4; Humpal 2; Hageman 2
Blocks (assist-solo) – Zweibahmer (1-1); Humpal (1-0); Heying (1-0); Kleve (1-0)
Digs – Luzum 12; Humpal 5; Frana 4; Hageman 4; Heying 3
Serving (success/attempts) – Humpal (12-13); Luzum (11-12); Kleve (10-11); Heying (5-6); Frana (4-4); Hageman (7-9)
Aces – Humpal 2; Luzum 1; Kleve 1; Hageman 1
Stats versus Dunkerton
Kills – Josie Hemesath 2; Zweibahmer 2; Kleve 2; Frana 1; Humpal 1; Hageman 1
Assists – Heying 4; Humpal 2; Hemesath 1; Luzum 1
Blocks (assist-solo) – Humpal (1-0); Kleve (1-0); Zweibahmer (0-1)
Digs – Luzum 8; Heying 5; Hageman 3; Frana 2; Humpal 2; Riley Meyer 2; Hemesath 1; Zweibahmer 1; Kleve 1
Serving (success/attempts) – Kleve (6-8); Heying (4-5); Luzum (4-4); Hageman (3-4); Humpal (2-4); Hemesath (1-1); Abby Wagner (1-1)
Aces – Kleve 3; Heying 1; Hageman 1
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