BURLINGTON — Baby steps.
Iola High’s volleyball team, featuring a trio of seniors and a bevy of underclassmen, continues to take steps toward success, head coach Amanda Holman said.
On Tuesday, the Mustangs fell in matches against Wellsville and Santa Fe Trail, “but it was better,” Holman said. “We have really good spurts, but spurts aren’t going to get you there. We’ve got to put it all together consistently.”
Iola’s “self-inflicted wounds” led to a 25-29, 25-13 loss to Wellsville to open the evening, before a tense, hard-fought 25-21, 25-23 defeat to Santa Fe Trail.
“The last game, even though it’s a loss, I still feel good about it,” Holman said. “Our movement was better, we were talking. It never got away from us.”
Leading the way for Iola against Wellsville was sophomore Rio Lohman, who smacked home seven kills in seven attempts, to go with four digs and two blocks. Kaysin Crusinbery had 13 assists and two digs, while Jenna Curry, Chloe Sell and Reese Curry each had eight digs. Lohman and Dallyn McGraw each had four digs.
On the negative side, Iola’s errors accounted for 29 of Wellsville’s 50 points.
“You can’t win a game like that,” Holman said.
IOLA’S quality of play ratcheted up several notches against Santa Fe Trail, with a number of extended rallies thunderous kills and diving saves.
But the Chargers had the upper hand at game’s end, prevailing 25-21 and 25-23.
Reese Curry led a balanced Mustang attack with four kills, followed by Jenna Curry, Ellis and Jackie Fager with three each. Crusinbery notched 13 assists. Lohman and Ellis each had a block. Sell and McGraw had five digs apiece, followed by Jenna Curry with four.
“There are little things we’ve been working on in practice,” Holman said. “We came in Monday, and started to implement it, especially our freshmen. They’re going with it. Repetition is the best thing we can do.”
Holman pointed out the play of Lohman, Reese Curry and the leadership of Ellis as key components for Iola’s improvement over a tough weekend tournament, in which the Mustangs went 0-4.
“We’re getting better,” she said.
Iola’s junior varsity team fell, 25-15 and 25-17, to Wellsville, and in three sets to Santa Fe Trail, 13-25, 25-21 and 15-12.
