The Iola volleyball team ran into a freight train to start Sub-State play and unfortunately, their season did not survive.
The 13-seed Fillies opened up postseason play with four seed and host Louisburg at the 4A Sub-State tournament on Saturday and fell in two sets 25-4 and 25-8.
The sheer talent and atmosphere in the Louisburg gym swallowed up an Iola team thats shown some real improvement over the 2018 season.
They were by far the most talented team they played, head coach Amanda Strickler said. Their best girl is a K-State commit so we were going against Division I talent and I dont think thats something that the girls have ever had to face before. It was kind of shock and awe. Plus that gym was pretty loud and intimidating and Im sure that didnt help.
Nearly every Iola hit seemed to be covered by one if not two Louisburg defenders and the Wildcats had a knack for putting the ball in all of the right places where the Fillies werent.
After the game, Iolas four varsity seniors (Piper Moore, Shaylee Sutterby, Paige Burrough, Mia Aronson and Ellie Carson) were upset that their volleyball career as Fillies had ended.
It was hard to find the right words, Strickler said. Our seniors were emotional after the match when it kind of set in on them that this was the end. I thanked them again for adapting with me this year and helping me make this season.
The future is pretty bright for Iola though. The Fillies return three sophomores who started all season in Becca Sprague, Hannah Gardner and Lauryn Holloway and a freshman in Jenna Curry who saw a handful of varsity action this season. Strickler has enjoyed seeing them grow this season and looks forward to what they can do in the next couple of seasons.
The future is really promising with this group, Strickler said. Three sophomores and one freshman got a lot of varsity playing time and thats awesome. Theyre only going to get better as they get more and more seasoned. Theres a lot to look forward to.
The Fillies final overall record was 9-16.
