GARNETT — Iola High’s Fillies ended the regular season with a 1-3 run in Saturday’s Anderson County High Invitational.
But more important than wins and losses, the Fillies came out of the tournament playing at a higher level. That pleased head coach Jodi Grover.
“We are growing as a team. This is the time of the season you want to put it all together,” Grover said.
“It was a good day of improvement and wins and losses do not necessarily show all of that.”
The Fillies finished at 8-24 overall. They hit the practice court this week preparing for action in Saturday’s Kansas Class 4A Substate tournament at Louisburg.
“If a person has watched our team throughout the season, they see the changes in the last week of play,” Grover said.
“Almost all are in the right direction,” she said. “We still have a few things to work on.”
Iola lost to Independence 25-16, 26-10, to Burlington 25-17, 25-19 and to Wellsville 25-19, 26-24.
To wrap up the tournament and the season, the Fillies defeated Prairie View 25-19, 25-19.
Kendra Taiclet powered the Fillies’ net attack throughout the tournament. She delivered 20 kills, put up three solo blocks and had three assisted blocks.
Kelsey Larson racked up 14 kills while Riana Dolenz had seven kills and four solo blocks. Celeste Ambrose downed 11 kills and had one solo block.
Toni Taylor came through with four kills and a solo block at the net. Kelsey Adams had two kills.
Taylor was credited with 30 set assists and Larson had 24 assists. Kirstin McGuffin came up with 12 digs.
Taiclet had nine digs. Libby Shay had four digs and Ambrose had three.
Larson had six ace serves and Taylor posted four ace serves. Dolenz had two service aces.
“Once we warmed up after Independence, the rest of the day we played well. Unfortunately we did not come up with the wins we wanted,” Grover said.
Grover said she felt good that the Fillies had six girls with hitting statistics. She said the Fillies hit the ball hard and came from different directions on the front line.
“Kirstin and Libby have really stepped it up on the back row,” Grover said.
“We need to improve on our reacting off of a block tip and communication on passing.”
Fillies elevate play
