Volleyball News Oct 10th - Oct 15th
JH Volleyball Loses to Wisner-Pilger
by Ellie Peters
The JH volleyball girls headed to Wisner on Monday, October 10, to take on the Gators. All Pierce teams lost to the Gators.
Starting off for the 7th graders, the A team took on the Gators. They lost the first set 7-21 and the second set 14-21. The 7B team also lost the first set with a score of 14-21. They lost the second set as well 12-21. Moving on to the 7C team, they lost both of the sets they played. Leaving a closed gap between the Jays and the Gators, the C team managed to keep up. However, they lost the first set 22-24. The second set wasn’t as lucky for the Jays. They lost that set 8-21.
For the 8th grade, the A and the B games were combined into one but played six sets instead of three. The 8A team started the game and played the first set. However, they lost to the Gators 7-21. The 8B team then took a shot at the Gators but were unable to come out with a win and lost again 5-21. In the third set, the A team took the court once again. Although the Lady Jays kept up with the Gators most of the game, they still lost with a score of 16-21. For the fourth set, the the 8B team tried one more time to shut down the Gators but couldn’t quite make it, losing with a final of 11-21. The 8A team gave it one last chance to come out on top in the fifth set, but still couldn’t come out with a win. The final score of the fifth set was 16-25. In the last set of the 8th grade game, the 8B team took the court again. Hoping for a win, the Jays weren’t quite able to do it, losing the set 6-21.
The JH Lady Jays’ next game was held on Thursday, October 13, against Crofton.
Freshman Lady Jays Take Loss to GACC
by Kayla Simmons
Pierce’s freshman Lady Jays fell to West Point Guardian Angels Central Catholic in three sets on Tuesday, October 11, at home.
Going into the first set, Pierce had a rough time staying with their opponent. Serving up 12 points in a row on the Lady Jays, GACC claimed the first set 14 to 25.
Bringing up their momentum, the Pierce girls came out strong in the second set. Unable to keep up with the Lady Jays’ intensity, GACC lost the second match 25 to 14 in favor of Pierce.
In the last game-deciding set, it was a back and forth between both teams. GACC scored the last two game-winning points and won the match 14 to 16 to win the game.
“Unfortunately, we tipped way too many times, which gave GACC the opportunity to swing at us almost every time they got the ball and we struggled with that,” said coach Hermsmeyer. “Our passing was lights-out. A couple girls stepped up and and played well for us in the back row and on defense.”
The team’s next game was their final of the season and was played on Tuesday, October 18, at home against Randolph.
JV Lady Jays Battle Against GACC
by Kayla Simmons
Pierce’s JV Lady Jays competed against the West Point Guardian Angels Central Catholic Bluejays on Tuesday, October 11. Unfortunately, Pierce lost the game against their opponent in two sets.
During the first set of the game, the Lady Jays stayed right with GACC until the final points. GACC pulled ahead and claimed the first set 20 to 25.
In the second set, GACC kept their momentum high and had a 0 to 6 lead on the Lady Jays to start the set. Despite their efforts to fight back, the Pierce Girls lost the second match 17 to 25.
“I thought that we did a better job of attacking and being aggressive at times,” said JV coach, Zach Weber. “I thought we did well at times, but we need to compete at a higher level for the whole game.”
The team played next in their last game of the season on Tuesday, October 18, against Randolph at home.
Lady Jays Take Dig Pink Match against GACC
by Grace Spieker
The Pierce High volleyball team held their dig pink night against Guardian Angels Central Catholic on Tuesday, October 11. The Lady Jays won in five sets.
The Dig Pink night was dedicated to Kim Martinson, who passed away from breast cancer a year ago. The volleyball team gave the Martinson family a pink volleyball signed by the team and dig pink t-shirts. The girls also wore pink jerseys to honor all who battled or is battling breast cancer.
Starting off in the first set, the Lady Jays came out behind and could not keep up their momentum with Guardian Angels and lost the set 20 to 25.
Going into the second set, the Lady Jays let GACC serve the first six points of the set. The Lady Jays lost the second set 22 to 25.
Shaking of the first two sets, the Lady Jays came out strong to win the first few points of the third set and gained the lead on the Guardian Angels. Pierce took the set 25 to 21.
Onto the fourth set, the Lady Jays kept their momentum up the whole set, leaving GACC with a set loss 25 to 17.
Going into the final and deciding set, the Lady Jays and GACC were neck and neck most of the set, which came down to 14 to 14 in the final points. The Lady Jays pushed through and and took the set 17 to 15, winning the game.
“I’m really proud of the girls for pulling it off and winning in five sets,” said head coach Brittany Case. “We need to do a better job of starting off strong right away and work on being more consistent throughout all the sets.”
She continued, “The first two sets we started off behind, and we were constantly playing catch up. In the last three sets, we started off on top, and we did have a few mistakes that we went back down, but we pushed and fought our way back.”
Maggie Brahmer led the team in kills for the night with 15 and also led in blocks with 6 total and a single block. In digs for the night, Sidney Zimmerer led with 10 digs. Carly Sutherland led with 22 assists. Overall for the night, all of the Lady Jays’ serving percentages were above 83%, and notably Emily Simmons served 18 with no errors and one ace.
The Lady Jays’ next game will be the conference tournament, which begins Monday, October 24.
JH Volleyball Loses to Crofton
by Ellie Peters
The JH volleyball girls played on their home court, this time against Crofton, on Thursday, October 14. Both 7th grade and 8th grade teams lost.
For the 7th grade game, the A team lost the first set 14-21. However, they were able to come back in the second set and won 21-17. The B team lost both of their sets against the Warriors. The first set ended 15-21, and the second set ended 9-21. Lastly, the C team took the court, losing both of their sets as well. In the first set, the Jays ended 13-21. In the last set of the 7th grade game, they also lost the second set 15-21.
In the 8th grade game, they also played with the two teams combined, and a total of six sets. Starting off the game, the A team took the court and won 21-18. Next up was the B team. However, they lost their set 15-21. In the third set, the A team played once more, winning 23-21. The B team took another chance at the Warriors but was unable to come out on top. The final score for the fourth set was 6-21. In the fifth set, the A team competed one last time. However, this time they lost 10-21. For the sixth and final set of the game, the B team tried yet again to beat the Warriors. They were still unable to come out with a win and lost 2-21.
“Even though we only came out with one win on Thursday night, the girls played much better than they did earlier in the week,” said 7th grade coach Katie Brummels. “Many of the sets were pretty close and the girls continued to fight until the end.”
The JH volleyball teams’ next games were held on Monday, October 17. These was their last game of the season.
Lady Jays Take Home the Gold
by Kaylee Dvorak
The Pierce Lady Jays traveled to Randolph on Thursday, October 14, to take part in the Pierce County Tournament. Defeating Osmond and Randolph each in two sets, the ladies took home gold.
For the first game, the Lady Jays took on the Osmond Tigers. The ladies came out with a lot of intensity. The first set ended with the ladies up 25-11. Onto the second set, the Lady Jays didn’t let up on the Tigers and won once again 25-11.
“In the first game against Osmond, the girls came out from the start. We only had a few errors, but for the most part we got the job done,” said head coach Brittany Case.
Carly Sutherland led against the Tigers in kills with ten, Emily Simmons had 4 aces, Maggie Brahmer had 1 block, Shianna Oestreich had 8 digs, and Emily Simmons had 15 assists.
The Lady Jays then played in the championship game against Randolph. Both teams battled back and forth the whole way in the first set, but Pierce was able to come out on top with the final score being 26-24. Coming out in the second set with a mindset that they were taking home the trophy, the Lady Jays won the second set 25-20.
Leading in stats for the Lady Jays against Randolph were Maggie Brahmer with ten kills, two aces, and eight blocks; Shianna Oestreich with four digs; and Emily Simmons with 12 assists.
The ladies’ next game will be Monday, October 24, for the conference tournament.
