By Brian Besch
Onalaska volleyball and the gymnasium was hot Tuesday, with a sweep over Grapeland 25-16, 25-16 and 25-17.
The ‘Cats won the first set with many points coming via the serve. They held a 4-0 lead until Grapeland scored four of its own. The Lady Sandies had problems with serve-return on an 8-1 run. Taylor Hudson, Chloe Mitschke and Kelli Arce were responsible for a few kills to help the Lady Cats to a 25-16 opener.
A much tighter set two forced Onalaska to come from behind. The Lady Sandies led 11-8 before the Lady Cats rolled off 12 of the next 14 points. Serves continued to be a strong point for the home team.
Micah McCullah, Ryllee Wilson-Martin, Faith Tyerman and Arce were point scorers at the net to clinch the match. After an 11-5 start, Grapeland tried to avoid the sweep by grabbing five of the next six points. However, Onalaska produced another 8-1 run to distance themselves for good.
“I just told them that I am very proud and that they have worked very hard to try to make all of these adjustments we’ve been putting in place,” Onalaska head coach Megan Nichols said. “Most of them are so young that sometimes it takes a little bit. One of my seniors, Lindsey Wurm, my libero, just did an incredible job tonight. She helped me get the defense in order and was calling out holes. As always, Faith was good. She runs my offense for me, and she has been an offensive threat. My outside Kelly Arce is a sophomore. I told Faith we want to get the ball out there a lot and she did. Overall, I’m really happy with it.”
Over the weekend, Onalaska finished second place in the silver bracket at the Navasota tournament. They went 1-3, with losses to Rockdale, Normangee, Shepherd and a victory over Hempstead. Coming up is an even more difficult stretch, as they travel to take part in the Lufkin brackets over the weekend.
“I’m happy with us being young and that I will have these girls again,” Nichols said putting her stamp on the program. “It is something to keep building on. That has been our motto all year, just failing forward and using any of these nondistrict games to get better.”
Comment
Comments