PHS Lady Jays Volleyball
Lady Jays Win Consolation at Wisner
by Victoria Orona
The Lady Jays volleyball team went to Wisner for a tournament on Saturday, September 22, and won the consolation bracket. The Lady Jays lost their first match against Wisner, then won both of their next matches against Madison and Humphrey St. Francis.
In the Wisner match, the Lady Jays lost two sets 22-25 and 19-25. The Lady Jays came back in their next match against Madison to win their first set 25-9 and the second 25-18. Playing Humphrey St. Francis, the Lady Jays won their first set 25-21 and their second 25-22.
The Lady Jay’s assistant coach Zach Weber said, “The first game was tough, but we came back with our games against Madison and St. Francis.”
Lady Jays VB at Lutheran High
by McKenna Shonka
The Pierce Lady Jays’ volleyball team traveled to Lutheran High on Thursday, September 20. They played three sets and lost all three.
In the first set the final was 19-25 with Pierce only a little short. In the second set the final was 17-25. Last set ended 13-25. Maggie Brahmer had ten kills, and Rhayna Waldner had four during the game. Faith Lubischer had one kill. Serving for the Lady Jays with one ace was Marie Stone. Waldner had four blocks, and Brahmer had one during the game against LH.
Next game for the Pierce Lady Jays is a triangular in Dakota Valley on Thursday, September 27.
Varsity Girls Lose to Trojans
by Kailey Marks
The Varsity girls played the Hartington Cedar Catholic Trojans on Tuesday, September 18. The Lady Jays had a hard-fought three sets but ended with a defeat by the Trojans.
In the first set, varsity lost 12-25. The Lady Jays fell short in the second set with a score of 19-25. Varsity dropped two points short and lost the third set with the score 24-26.
Senior Maggie Brahmer had the teams top kills with 18, followed by senior Katrina Meier with three, then with senior Rhayna Waldner with two, and sophomore Faith Lubischer with one. Brahmer also had the top blocks with four of them, followed by Meier with two, and lastly senior Abbey Fuerhoff, senior Kayla Simmons and Waldner all with one block. Top digger for the night was sophomore Kenzie Moeller with 14 digs, followed by Simmons with six, Fuerhoff with four, Brahmer and senior Marie Stone with three, Waldner and Lubischer with two and junior Tazlynn Sporleder with one.
Coach Brittany Weber comments, “Offensively and defensively, we played very well. We hit .246 as a team while holding them to .189. We need to continue to improve our pre set reads so we can pick up tips and setter dumps more consistently.”
Varsity Volleyballs next game is Tuesday, September 25 against Laurel Concord Coldridge at home.
JV Volleyball Team Defeats Bears
by Montana Ruppert
The JV volleyball team played Laurel on Tuesday, September 25, at home, where Pierce won in two sets.
Pierce and Laurel scored back and forth for the first part of the first set; then Pierce pulled ahead, only for Laurel to come back and threaten. The Lady Jays then rallied their way to the 25-21 win.
For the second set, the Lady Jays took an early lead by about ten points. Laurel went on a bit of a scoring run; then the Lady Jays took over for the easy win, 25-12. Payten Simmons had a long serving run to help her teammates finish strong.
Coach Zach Weber said, “We played very well. Our passing was excellent, and our front row kept the ball in play. Passing has always been a strength for us. We just need our other parts of the game to complement it. Last night was a good first step. Consistency of play. We let them hang around a lot in that first set when they shouldn’t have. Luckily we found a way to win it.”
The next JV volleyball game will be Tuesday, October 9, at home against GACC.
JV Volleyball Falls to Trojans and Eagles
by Montana Ruppert
The JV volleyball team played two games last week, losing both in two sets. They played Hartington Cedar Catholic Tuesday, September 18, at home, where they lost in two sets.
In the first set, the Lady Jays fell 19-25. For the second set, Pierce fell short 16-25.
The JV volleyball team then played the Lutheran High Eagles on Thursday, September 20, in Norfolk and lost in two sets.
In the first set, the Lady Jays lost 18-24. The Pierce girls challenged in the second set but fell short 24-26.
Coach Zach Weber said, “Unfortunately, we continue to play inconsistently. We have to maintain a constant effort from serve 1. We have to be mentally tough enough to play at a high level for the whole game.”
The next JV volleyball game is Thursday, September 27 in a triangular at Dakota Valley, and they play in a triangular again on Tuesday, October 2 in Wayne.
Freshman Volleyball Falls to Eagles
By Kenzie Moeller
The freshman volleyball team traveled to Lutheran High Northeast Thursday, September 20, and lost in two sets.
Taylor Miller’s three-point serving run and Brynlee Marks’ seven-point serving run weren't enough to get the first-set win, and LHNE took it 19-25. In the closing set, Graison Pfeiffer and Larissa Meier’s three-point serving runs helped, but the Lady Jays suffered the loss 18-25.
Coach Krista Meyer said, “Coming off such a high from playing Hartington, I was hoping to give Lutheran High our best shot. We didn’t play our best ball and ended up falling short. We’ll continue to compete in practice and get better!”
Freshmen will next see action in the Pierce County tournament on Saturday, September 29, at home, starting at 9 a.m.
Lady Jays Lose Battle To Trojans
by Kenzie Moeller
The freshman volleyball team played the Hartington Cedar Catholic Trojans on Tuesday, September 18, won one set and lost two.
In the first set, Alexis Schnoor went on a four-point serving run to help the freshman team win the set 25-22. The second set was close, but the Lady Jays were not able to finish strong and lost the set 23-25. In the final set, the Lady Jays couldn’t get their game rhythm and lost 8-15.
Coach Krista Meyer said, “Overall, I am super happy with how the game went. It was one of those games that felt like a win because of how we played, even though we suffered the loss. I saw so many good things!”
The next freshman game is a tournament on Saturday, September 29, at home, starting at 9 a.m.
Junior High VB Plays O’Neill
by Tanner Kuper
Pierce’s junior high volleyball team played O’Neill at Pierce on Thursday, September 20. The seventh grade team lost 0-3. The eighth grade tied 2-2
In the seventh grade game the first set ended 7-25. The number 51 from Pierce went on a 6 point serving run. The second set ended with the same score, 7-25. The third set ended 10-25 to put Pierce at 0-3 and the game.
The eighth grade played A and B teams. The A team won their first set 25-14 and lost the second set 24-26. During the first set Pierce’s 22 went on a serving streak of 8. The B team lost their first set 16-25 and won the second 25-20.
Their next game will be on Thursday, September 27, at Madison.