Lady Jays Volleyball
Lady Jays Sweep Wakefield Tourney
On Saturday, September 10, the Pierce Lady Jays finished what they started on Thursday by sweeping all the teams they faced to come away as the champions of the Wakefield tournament.
The early morning game Saturday saw the Lady Jays facing off against tournament hosts Wakefield. Pierce won 25-20 and 25-21.
In the second game of the round robin tournament, the Lady Jays went head-to-head with the Lady Eagles of Lutheran High Northeast. This was the only match where Pierce went three sets, and the Bluejays lost the first set 25-20. After resetting, the Lady Jays came back strong, defeating LHNE 25-16 and 25-13.
After a one game break, the Lady Jays again came back strong, beating Ponca 25-21 and 25-16.
In the final match of the day for Pierce, they again won 2-0 over Laurel-Concord-Coleridge 25-19 and 25-9.
The 10-1 Lady Jays will face Crofton on Thursday, September 15.
Pierce Lady Jays Sweep Out Competition
By Autumn Lambrecht
On Thursday, September 8, the Pierce Lady Jays took the bus to Wakefield to compete in the round robin games of the Wakefield Tournament against the Hartington Cedar Catholic Trojans and Lyons-Decatur Northeast Cougars, and came home victorious against both teams.
For the first game, the Lady Jays went up against the Hartington Cedar Catholic Trojans and won the first set 25-20. During the second set, securing the win, the Lady Jays won the set with a score of 25-20 again. Throughout the game, Jaya Wachholtz led the team with seven kills, Maggie Painter added six kills, and Brielle Unseld had five kills. Morgan Moeller had eight digs, followed by sophomore Skylar Scholting with seven. Claudia Riggert contributed two ace serves and held four blocks as well, two of her blocks were against Cedar Catholic’s best hitter during a crucial time.
Senior Unseld comments on the Hartington game saying, “We started slower than we would’ve liked, but we came together and railed back to win. I’m really proud of us to be able to battle back.”
Against the Lyons-Decatur Northeast Cougars, the Lady Jays took the first set with a score of 25-9, and cleared the second set 25-13.
Head coach Zach Weber adds, “We did a lot of nice things, and a lot of credit should go to Cedar Catholic. They played extremely well. While there is obviously work to be done in a couple of critical areas, I’m proud of our girls for overcoming Cedar’s energy and early momentum. We showed a lot of grit and determination to still come away with a win.”
The Pierce High Lady Jays next game will be Thursday, September 15, against Crofton at Crofton High School.
Lady Jays Sweep Scotus Tournament
By Kaden Froehlich
The Pierce Lady Jays came away with a first place trophy on Saturday, September 3, as the varsity volleyball team defeated Columbus Scotus, Columbus Lakeview, and Stanton in a tournament hosted at Columbus Scotus.
First, the Lady Jays played Columbus Scotus and took an impressive win in a 2-0 sweep winning the first set 25-18, and the second set 25-12. Claudia Riggert led the team in kills with nine, and Jaya Watchholtz was not far behind with seven kills. The Lady Jays had seven serving aces in this outing, with four contributed by Riggert. Finally, Brielle Unseld contributed 24 set assists to the team ensuring victory for the Lady Jays.There was a team total of five blocks for the Lady Jays. Continuing the defensive side of the game, Morgan Moeller led the team with 17 digs.
The second game went well for the Lady Jays as they again won 2-0 over the Stanton Mustangs. The first set was a long one but the Lady Jays stayed with it and won 25-17. The second set was still a fight, but not too hard of one. The score was 25-12 to end the game. Riggert lead the team in kills with 11; Wachholtz and Maggie Painter were hot on Riggert’s heels with 10 kills each. In serving aces, Moeller had a team high six of 10 serving aces. Unseld added 23 assists. Moeller lead the team with digs with 17, and Painter trailed her with 10. The Lady Jays racked up six blocks in this battle.
In the final game of the day, the Lady Jays went on to win 2–0 over Lakeview. The first set of this matchup ended in a 26-24 victory for Pierce, and the second set ended in a 25-17 victory, which also ended the game and tournament as the Lady Jays claimed first place. Wachholtz led the team in kills this outing with 11, trailing her was Painter with seven and Riggert with five. Assisting most of these kills was Unseld with 28. Skylar Scholting led the team in serving aces with three. Defensively, the Lady Jays amounted 10 blocks. They also racked up a team total of 33 digs, and Moeller led the team in digs with 16.
