Lady Jays Volleyball
Launch the media gallery 1 playerVarsity Lady Jays Take Control of O’Neill
by Rhayna Waldner
The varsity Lady Jays took on the O’Neill Eagles on Thursday, October 5. Putting the Eagles away in four sets, the Lady Jays took the victory with set scores of 28-26, 25-23, 21-25, and 25-9.
In the first set of the game, the Lady Jays traded serving runs with the Eagles. Coming towards the end of the set, the Lady Jays were down 22-24. Not giving up, Pierce fought back to win the set by going into extra points. The final set score was 28-26 with the help of Sidney Zimmerer, Grace Spieker, and Kayla Simmons all going on serving runs.
In the second set, the Lady Jays and the Eagles fought back and forth until the end of the set. The Lady Jays pulled ahead at the right time to win the set 25-23 with the help of Simmons and Zimmerer’s serving runs.
The third set did not go in the Lady Jays’ favor. With many unforced errors from the Lady Jays adding up on the Eagles’ score, this pushed the game into a fourth set. The final set score was 21-25 with the Lady Jays not being able to pull it off at the end.
In the final set of the game, the Lady Jays did not let the previous set loss get them down. Simmons, Brenna Collison, Zimmerer, and Maggie Brahmer all went on vital serving runs to get their team the momentum they needed to finished the set and the game strong. Not backing down throughout the set, the Lady Jays defeated the Eagles with a set score of 25-9.
Individually, Brahmer led the Lady Jays in kills with 20, and Meredith Fasse had five. Collison had six service aces, while Spieker had three. Brahmer also led the team in blocks with eight, and Fasse and Rhayna Waldner were right behind her with six apiece. Zimmerer led her team in digs with 25, and Maci Kroupa had 12. Simmons and Spieker had 18 and ten assists, respectively.
“I am proud of the way the girls came out ready to play,” said coach Brittany Weber. “They came out with high energy and played as a team. Our bench was involved, and everyone did their job. We are moving in the right direction.”
The varsity Lady Jays’ next game will be the Pierce County Tournament with their first game against Osmond on Thursday, October 12. The annual tournament will be held at home this year.
JV Volleyball Falls in Close Match With Eagles
by Montana Ruppert
The JV volleyball team played O’Neill at Pierce High School for their traditional Pink Out game Thursday, October 6, and lost 1-2.
In the first set, the Lady Jays fell to O’Neill 19-25. The Lady Jays were able to put down several attacks to gain them most of their points, but the Eagles ultimately pulled ahead.
In the second set, the Lady Jays were able to edge out the Eagles 25-23. They kept up with the Eagles throughout the whole game and pulled through and took the win, forcing the game into a third set.
A battle into extra points ultimately fell in the Eagles’ favor for the third set, where despite staying neck-and-neck the entire set, Pierce lost 18-20.
Coach Zach Weber said, “I thought this game was our best performance of the year. Our hustle and our energy were great, and we were much more aggressive offensively. We played well enough to win against a really good team, but things didn't go our way in the end. This is the type of effort we need to take into every game.”
The next volleyball game will be at Lutheran High Monday, October 16, against LHNE.
JV Lady Jays Defeat GACC
by Montana Ruppert
The JV volleyball team beat GACC Tuesday, October 10, at West Point. The Lady Jays were victorious in two sets.
The Lady Jays tipped more often than they attacked, yet the first set ended with a win by the Lady Jays 25-21. Maiya Baumann started the game off with a five-point serving run, and Abbey Fuerhoff also had a run at the end of the game. In the second set, GACC came close, but Pierce pulled through and won 25-23 as they improved their attacking game.
Coach Zach Weber said, “We did a lot of little things really well. We continue to improve on defense, particularly tip coverage. We still need to be more aggressive offensively. When we are attacking, we look very good. We need to continue to work on accelerating into the ball to get quality attacks.”
The JV team played their final game of the season Tuesday, October 17, against Randolph.
Freshman Volleyball Team Beats GACC
by Montana Ruppert
The freshman volleyball Lady Jays defeated GACC in two sets Tuesday, October 10, at West Point.
The first set, the Lady Jays defeated GACC 25-20. Alexis Schnoor went on a four-point serving run to end the game. In the second set, the Jays beat GACC 25-21. Schnoor went on another serving run to start off the game with a Lady Jay lead. Abigail Meier had two serving runs throughout the set to aid the team’s victory.
Freshman coach Krista Meyer said, "I think we passed and served pretty well. Our serves put them in the position to get out of system, which in turn helped us pass those freeballs really well. Because we pass so well, we should be putting down the ball left and right. I think a huge focus for us will be getting the ball over the net when we have the opportunity to do so. We definitely need to learn how to bring more energy to the floor to get ourselves pumped up. I think once you add that intensity, the fundamentals come right along with it. Also like I mentioned before, we will be working on our execution at the net and finding a way to attack."
The freshman team’s next game would be their final of the season, played on Tuesday, October 17, against Randolph.
Freshmen Fall to O’Neill
by Montana Ruppert
In the annual Pink-Out volleyball games, the freshman team played O’Neill Thursday, October 5, at home and lost to them in two sets.
In the first set, the Lady Jays struggled to defend O’Neill’s attacks and fell to the Eagles 12-25. The second set, Pierce improved and was able to put away a few more points on the Eagles but fell 18-25.
Coach Krista Meyer said, ”I thought we passed incredibly well, but we lacked defense. O’Neill has a good freshman team, and they outplayed us that night.”
The next freshman game will be Monday, October 16, when they play Lutheran High at Norfolk.
JH Volleyball Teams Play Wisner-Pilger
by Angelica Volquardsen
The junior high Lady Jays played Wisner-Pilger on Monday, October 9, at the Pierce Auditorium. The Lady Jays went 1-1 in the 8th grade B game, but lost 8A, 7A, and 7B.
The 7th grade A team lost both sets of their game. The Lady Jays played a tight game with the Gators in the first set, but ultimately fell 23-25. In the second set, Pierce lost 17-25.
In the 7th grade B game, the first set went to the Gators by a score of 11-25. The Lady Jays fared better in the second set but still came up short 17-25.
Seventh-grade coach Katie Brummels said, “Overall it was not our best game, but Wisner-Pilger tends to be a tough team. This week, we are really going to work on communication and being aggressive because that is what we need to improve on from Monday's game.”
Next to take the court were the 8th grade teams. Pierce’s 8th grade A team lost in two sets. The Lady Jays dropped both sets with scores of 8-25.
The 8th grade B team won 1 of 2 sets. The Lady Jays came out on top in a close first set 25-23. In the second set, however, they fell 10-25.
The junior high volleyball girls’ next game was their final of the season, played on Monday, October 16, at Plainview.
JH Lady Jays Take on Knights
by Morgan Crist
The junior high volleyball teams of Pierce played the Norfolk Catholic Knights on Saturday, October 7, at home. Both 7th grade teams were victorious, and the 8th grade teams each lost to the Knights.
For the 7th grade A game, the Lady Jays came out on top in three sets. Pierce took a loss of 22-25 in the first set, but fired back and won the second set 25-21 and the third set 15-11.
For the first set of the 7th grade B team, the Lady Jays were victorious in two sets. Pierce kicked off the game with a win of 25-19 in the first set and dominated the second set, winning it 25-7.
As for the 8th grade A team, they played the Knights close but dropped the first set 23-25. In the second set, the Lady Jays fell 13-25.
Finally, for the 8th grade B team, the Lady Jays fell in the first set 21-25 and also lost the second set 15-25.
The junior high Lady Jays wrapped up their season with games on Thursday, October 12, against Crofton and Monday, October 16, against Plainview.
JH VB Teams Face Panthers
by Angelica Volquardsen
Pierce’s junior high volleyball teams competed against Norfolk on Thursday, October 5, at Norfolk Middle School. The 7th grade A and B teams each lost 0-2, and the 8th grade team lost 1-2.
The 7th grade A team lost both sets against Norfolk. The Lady Jays played the Panthers close but fell 19-25. In the second set, the Panthers were able to gain a bit more momentum, and the Lady Jays lost 16-25.
The 7th grade B team had trouble staying with the Panthers in the first set and lost 11-25. In the second set, the Lady Jays improved and were able to score more points on the Panthers but still lost 17-25.
Katie Brummels, the 7th grade coach, said, “Norfolk is one of the tougher teams we have played so far. The games definitely showed us some of the things we needed to work on; however, I was happy with how the girls played as a team and persevered throughout the entire match. Our defense stood out in portions of both games against Norfolk.”
In the 8th grade game, the Lady Jays struggled with the Panthers in the first set and lost 15-25. In the second set, a long serving run from Payten Simmons helped propel the Lady Jays to a comeback, as they took the set 25-23. In the third set, the Lady Jays were neck-and-neck with the Panthers, but they couldn’t quite edge them out and lost 13-15.
Coach Angie Schroeder said, “The girls played really well, improving each game becoming more confident in each game and in each other themselves.”
The junior high volleyball teams will take the court again Thursday, October 12, in Crofton against the Warriors.
