Lady Jays Volleyball
Four Straight Championships
By Charlie Miller
The Pierce Bluejays came in first in the Mid-State conference volleyball tournament for the fourth straight year as they played the Crofton Warriors on the third day of the tournament on Thursday, October 25, winning 3-1.
Pierce defeated Crofton 32-30, lost 25-20, won 25-13, and 25-17.
The individual accomplishments of the day were from Nora Herian, who ended with 31 kills and two assisted blocks, Claudia Riggert, who had 15 kills and six assisted blocks, and Abigail Cone with 11 kills and one assisted block.
“I'm very proud of what this group has been able to accomplish. We played together, fought through adversity, and did enough to win a very loaded conference tournament,” head coach Zach Weber says.
Riggert shared the sentiment, saying, “Winning the conference tournament is a goal that we have set for our team at the beginning of the season. During the season, we have come together as a team and worked extremely hard to complete this goal. It's a great achievement and confidence booster for districts.”
Bluejays Take on the Bravettes and Come Out on Top
By Naomi Sullivan
The Pierce High volleyball team headed into the second round of the Mid-State tournament against the Battle Creek Bravettes and won 3-1 at the end of the night.
Going into the first set, the Bravettes put up a good fight. Taking the score to 31-28, the Bluejays took the first set.
Bluejays held the Bravettes in the second set, causing them to fall 25-22.
The Bluejays had a strong lead, but the Bravettes fought back, ending the third 25-19.
Heading into the final set of the night, the Bluejays took the win, ending the fourth set 25-22.
“It was definitely a challenge. Battle Creek is a very good team, and they played very clean, and they have a very well-balanced attack. So anytime you’re defending a team like that, it’s going to be a big challenge. We also created our own challenges from the serve line that was certainly very difficult to overcome. We ended up winning that second set and had nine missed serves. I think that we have a lot of very good kids, a lot of very high-character kids. They don’t get too low and they certainly, very rarely, will turn on each other and start letting our sour attitudes permeate through the general atmosphere of the team. So I’ve been happy all season with the way we’ve handled adversity, the way we’ve been able to come back in tight sets, and the way we play,” head coach Zach Weber said.
Leading the game in kills Nora Herian with 31 straight to the floor. Following behind Herian was Abigail Cone with 17 kills and Claudia Riggert with 15 kills.
Cone hit the floor with 18 digs; Herian kept the ball alive with 12 digs, right behind Cone.
The setter of the night was Skylar Scholting with 43 assists.
“I thought we kept them on their toes and kept swinging at them, I thought we played through adversity really well, and that we showed that even if we're down in the game we can come back and play even better. I also was really proud of the defense we had after the first two sets I think we adjusted very well to what they were throwing at us,” Herian said.
The Bluejays head to subdistricts next week.
Bluejays Move on to Play at Norfolk Catholic
By Brody Knox
In the first match of the Mid-State conference volleyball tournament, the Bluejays fought hard and came away with a 3-1 win over the O’Neill Eagles.
O'Neill fought even harder than the Jays, winning the first set, 25-21.
Flying into the second set, the Bluejays were not about to lose again, hitting harder than the first match, the girls came out and won 25-22.
Coming into the third match, the Bluejays were able to gap O'Neill with a score of 25-13.
Battling into the fourth match, Pierce was able to conquer yet another team, kicking O'Neill out of the winners bracket with a score of 25-14.
“I was really proud that we were able to bounce back after a rough first set. O’Neill is a scrappy team and they don’t let a lot hit the floor. I thought our serve receive was good and that helped us side out and go on runs. Overall, it was great that we got the win and were able to move on in the tournament,” outside hitter Abigail Cone comments.
Skylar Scholting led the team with three aces, followed by Cone and Scarlett Babl with two each.
Taking the lead in kills, Nora Herian led the team with 25, right behind her was Cone with 13, Claudia Riggert with 11, Scholting with five, Hadleigh Collison with four, and Hadley Wragge with one.
“As a team, we kind of had a rocky start, the first set, obviously, we lost it, we kind of weren't clicking, but offensively we started clicking a little bit better around the second and third set and the fourth set is probably the best set we had all night. Me, personally, I felt I had a pretty good game,” Collison states.
