Lady Jays Volleyball
Varsity Lady Jays 1-1 in Home Triangular
by Rhayna Waldner
The varsity Lady Jay volleyball team competed in a triangular with Boone Central/Newman Grove and Wayne on Tuesday, October 3, at home. They Lady Jays went 1-1, defeating BCNG but losing to Wayne.
For the first game, the Lady Jays faced the BCNG Cardinals. Not struggling with the Cardinals the first set, the Lady Jays beat them 25-14 with the help of Kayla Simmons and Kenzie Moeller going on long serving runs for six and five points, respectively. In the second set, the Cardinals came back to fight, but after battling back and forth the entire set, the Lady Jays finally pulled ahead and won 26-24.
Individually, Maggie Brahmer led the team in kills with 11, and Meredith Fasse had five. Moeller had one service ace, and Fasse had two blocks while Maci Kroupa and Rhayna Waldner each had one. Sidney Zimmerer had 14 digs, and Brenna Collison had five. Moeller and Simmons had ten and seven assists, respectively.
For their last game of the night, the Lady Jays played the Wayne Blue Devils. In the first set of play, the Lady Jays could not find their momentum and fell to the Blue Devils 14-25. Finding their fight in the second set, the Lady Jays came back. Zimmerer went on a long serving run to help out her team. Unfortunately for the Lady Jays, they lost this close set 19-25.
Individually for this game, Brahmer led the team in kills with six, and Collison and Fasse each had three. Simmons had one service ace, and Brahmer had two blocks while Waldner, Fasse, Katrina Meier, and Zoe Brenden each had one. Zimmerer had ten digs, and Collison and Kroupa each had three. Simmons had three assists and Moeller had seven.
“At times, we played extremely well. We did some great things throughout the night,” coach Brittany Weber said. “Moving forward, we are going to work on being more consistent.”
The Lady Jays’ next games will be played in the Pierce County Tournament. It will be held in Pierce this year on Thursday, October 12.
Varsity Volleyball Competes in Triangular
by Rhayna Waldner
The Pierce Lady Jays traveled to Ponca on Thursday, September 28, to play in a triangular with Ponca and Dakota Valley. Unfortunately for the Lady Jays, they dropped both games.
For the first game, the Lady Jays played the Ponca Indians. Ponca took an early lead in the first set on the Lady Jays, which made it difficult for them to come back. Dropping this set 14-25 to the Indians, the Lady Jays bounced back the second set. In the second set, the Lady Jays and the Indians battled back and forth until the end, where Ponca pulled ahead 22-25. Maggie Brahmer and Sidney Zimmerer helped their team out this set by going on long serving runs.
Individually for this game, Brahmer lead the team in kills with ten, and Rhayna Waldner and Meredith Fasse each had three. Maci Kroupa had one service ace, and Sidney Zimmerer and Kroupa had 16 and nine digs, respectively. Kayla Simmons had 12 assists, and Kenzie Moeller had eight.
The Lady Jays faced the Dakota Valley Panthers for their next game. In the first set, the Lady Jays and the Panthers sided out back and forth with the serving runs being about the same for both teams. Simmons and Brenna Collison went on long serving runs to help their team. Despite this, the Lady Jays fell to the Panthers 21-25 in the first set. Coming back with a little more fight the next set, the Lady Jays were helped out by Brahmer and Kenzie Moeller, who went on serving runs. Unfortunately for the Jays, the dropped this close set 23-25.
Individually, Brahmer led the team in kills with 6 and Fasse had 2. Simmons and Moeller each had two service aces, and Brahmer had two blocks while Waldner and Katrina Meier each had one. Zimmerer and Kroupa had six and five digs, respectively; Simmons had six assists, and Moeller had two.
The Lady Jays’ next game will be parents’ night held at home against the O’Neill Eagles on Thursday, October 5.
Varsity Lady Jays Sweep LCC
by Rhayna Waldner
The varsity Lady Jays took on the Laurel-Concord/Coleridge Bears for the fourth time this season on Tuesday, September 26. Not having any problem with the Bears, the Lady Jays swept them in three sets with set scores of 25-10, 25-12, and 25-12.
To start off the game, LCC had the first serve, but the Lady Jays took the lead right away, not giving the Bears a chance to score until the Lady Jays had a 6-0 lead with the help of Kayla Simmons. After siding out, Brenna Collison served to get her team a 9-2 lead. Keeping the momentum throughout the rest of the set, the Lady Jays defeated the Bears 25-10.
In the next set of the game, Sidney Zimmerer started out serving for the Lady Jays and gave her team an easy 4-0 lead. Collison, Maci Kroupa, and Kenzie Moeller all helped the Lady Jays out by going on long serving runs to give their team another set win 25-12.
In the final set of the game, the Lady Jays and Bears started out going back and forth with points. But, with the help of Maggie Brahmer going on a long serving run to end the sideouts, the Lady Jays were able to use this to push them to finish the game strong. The score of the final set was 25-12 with the Lady Jays coming out ahead.
Individually, Brahmer led the team in kills with 12, and Collison had four. Collison also had seven service aces, and Zimmerer and Brahmer had three each. Meredith Fasse led the team in blocks with two, and Katrina Meier and Rhayna each had one. Zimmerer led her team in digs with 11, and Collison had ten. Simmons and Moeller had 13 and six assists each, respectively.
“I am proud of the way the girls played with such enthusiasm, and more importantly, they are playing as a team,” Coach Brittany Weber said. “We are hoping to take this high energy into our upcoming games.”
The varsity Lady Jays’ next game is parents’ night, which will held at home against O’Neill on Thursday, October 5. Freshmen, JV, and varsity will all play starting with freshmen at 5:30.
JV Volleyball Team Plays in Triangular
by Montana Ruppert
The JV volleyball team played in a triangular against Boone Central/Newman Grove and won in two sets, and then played Wayne and lost in two sets on Tuesday, October 3, in Pierce.
In the first game, Pierce played BCNG. The first set, the Lady Jays barely beat the Cardinals after battling back and forth and going into extra points, but Pierce was able to come out on top 26-24. In the second set, the Lady Jays won again 25-21.
The second game was against Wayne. In the first set, the Lady Jays fell short to Wayne 18-25. The second set, the Lady Jays couldn’t find their momentum, and Wayne won again 16-25.
Coach Krista Meyer said, “I think at times we had a really good pass and serve game for us. Our defense really stood out to me at times, too. We could definitely improve on our attacking and just being ready for the ball. As good as our serve game was, we missed too many opportunities to put the ball over the net on our serves. We really need to polish the fundamentals we have now in order to play how we should be playing at the end of the season. We aren't quite where we need to be, and we aren't always consistent, so that will be a focus for us as we prepare for our next game.”
The next JV game will be Monday, October 16, against Lutheran High in Norfolk.
JV Lady Jays Beat Bears
by Montana Ruppert
The Pierce JV volleyball team beat the Laurel-Concord/Coleridge Bears on Tuesday, September 26, at Pierce High School and beat them in two out of three sets.
The Lady Jays defeated the Bears in the first set 25-14. Cayce Carlson went on a serving run to aid her team.
In the second set, the Bears mounted a comeback by defeating the Lady Jays. Pierce struggled with passing and serving coming into the set, and the Bears took the win 16-25, sending the game into a third set.
The third set, the Jays improved their serving, passing, and hitting to pull through and win 15-12.
Coach Zach Weber said, “We made far fewer errors in this game. We covered tips, and we moved to the ball well. We need to be more aggressive offensively. We have to be able to put the ball down, and we haven't been. We need to continue to work on becoming more effective offensively.”
The next JV volleyball game will be Thursday, October 5, at Pierce High School against O’Neill.
Freshman Volleyball Competes in Home Tournament
by Rhayna Waldner
The Pierce High freshman volleyball team competed in a tournament held at home on Saturday, September 30. They defeated Norfolk Public, but fell to Lutheran High Northeast and Wayne.
The Lady Jays started out the tournament strong with their first game against the Norfolk Public Panthers. They went on long serving runs to give themselves a 25-12 victory in the first set. In the next set, Pierce carried their momentum over and won 25-16.
For their next game, the Lady Jays played the LHNE Eagles. Not being able to find their stride, they dropped both sets to the Eagles 16-25 and 12-25.
In the freshman girls’ final game, they played the Wayne Blue Devils. Not able to keep up with Wayne the first set, with a final set score of 13-25, they came back the next set. Fighting their way back to the top, the Lady Jays won 25-23. This pushed the game into an extra set. Unfortunately for the Lady Jays, they dropped the deciding set 9-15.
The freshman volleyball girls’ next game will be held at GACC on Tuesday, October 10.
Freshman Volleyball Defeats LCC
by Montana Ruppert
The freshman volleyball team played Laurel-Concord/Coleridge at Pierce High School Tuesday, September 26, and beat them in two sets.
The Lady Jays took the win in the first set with a score of 25-17. Mikala Stone went on the longest serving run, winning the team nine points at the end of the game.
In the second set, Pierce dominated the Bears, ending the game with a score of 25-3. Faith Lubischer had a 14-point serving run right from the start to give the Lady Jays a huge lead.
Coach Krista Meyer said, “I am very pleased with how my girls played. We definitely focused on specific things and it seemed to help a lot. We passed really well and put up some great two balls to my hitters. Now that I've seen them play well multiple times, consistency is key. We really need to get away from our 'rollercoaster' game of play and compete at a steady pace, always taking care of the little things and focusing on fundamentals. Our attacking game has too many errors, and we aren't always aggressive when we should be. We've been working a lot with our footwork so we'll continue to do that and hopefully see some positive progression!”
The next freshman volleyball game will be Thursday, October 5, starting at 5:30 at Pierce High School against O’Neill for parents’ night.
JH Volleyball Plays Randolph
by Montana Ruppert
The junior high volleyball teams played Randolph in an away game on Monday, October 2, where the 8th grade A team won 3-0, the 8th grade B team lost 0-2, the 7th grade A team went 1-0, and the 7th grade B team went 1-1.
In the 8th grade A game, each set score was close, but the Lady Jays were victorious in all three. The first set, Pierce won 25-23. In the second set, Gina Wragge ended the game with a five- point serving run to help Pierce win 25-21. Then, in the third set, Pierce took the win again 15-13.
In the 7th grade A game, Pierce beat Randolph 25-10. Brielle Unseld went on an eight-point serving run to end the game. The 7th grade B team then beat Randolph in one set out of two, winning the first set 27-25 but falling to Randolph 25-15 in the second.
The next JH volleyball games will be in Crofton on Thursday, October 12.
JH Volleyball Plays Madison Dragons
by Montana Ruppert
The JH volleyball teams played Madison Thursday, September 29. The 8th grade A, 8th grade B, and 7th grade A teams all won their games in two sets, while the 7th grade B team split sets with the Dragons.
The 8th grade A team took the court and blew the Dragons out of the water, winning 25-5. In the first set, Gina Wragge went on a 13-point serving run to start off the Lady Jays. The second set went the same way, ending with a score of 25-6.
In the 8th grade B game, the Lady Jays beat the Dragons 25-16 in the first set. Alle Koehler went on a serving run towards the end of the game. In the second set, the Lady Jays took the win again, ending the game with a win 25-16.
The 7th grade A team dominated the first set of their game, winning 25-6. Kallie Edins went on a serving run at the beginning and the end of the game to aid her team. In the second set, Pierce won again 25-22.
In the 7th grade B game, Pierce went 1-1. The Lady Jays won the first set 25-12. Ella Gaes went on a serving run at the end of the set. In the second set, the Jays fell short to the Dragons losing 19-25 despite a serving run from Ciara Garcia toward the end of the set.
The next JH volleyball games will be Thursday, October 5, against Norfolk High School in Pierce.