ORIGINALLY WRITTEN
Goessel-The Bluebird won the Tescott Invitational Saturday with a 5-0 record.
In pool play, Goessel defeated Bennington, 25-17, 25-18; Tescott, 25-13, 25-17; and Wilson, 25-16, 25-20 to go 3-0.
In the semifinals, the Bluebirds defeated Osborne, 25-17, 13-25, 25-15, then captured the title with victory over the Ell-Saline, 25-17, 23-25, 25-13.
Allison Banman made 35 of 38 serves with five aces for the day, Katie Flaming was 53-57 with 13 aces and Kory Hiebert was 33-35 with five aces.
Banman contributed 80 assists. Courtney Berkholz had eight blocks and 25 digs while Kory Hiebert had 29 blocks.
Hiebert registered 53 kills, Berkholz added 20 and Sarah Unruh 13.
“Overall, this was an impressive day for us,” coach Chrysta Guhr said. “We played with a different lineup due to injury and the girls showed a lot of character and heart to play through that adversity.
“The entire day was wonderful, each match gaining in intensity and focus,” she added. “Overall, this was a very good day for the Goessel Lady Bluebirds.”
With the title, Goessel improved to 14-3 for the season.
On Sept. 13, the Bluebirds split Heart of America League matches at Goessel, defeating Ell-Saline, 25-19, 25-20, before falling to Moundridge 13-25, 14-25.
Hiebert registered six kills against Moundridge while Allison Banman racked up 30 assists in four games.
“Overall, we had a decent night,” Guhr said. “Moundridge is a very tough team with a lot of weapons.
“We had a hard time getting a block up on them and that hurt, but I thought we fought well,” she added. “I also thought our defense was scrappier than previous nights, although the scores may not reflect that.”
With the split, Goessel’s record moved to 3-1 in HOA play.
Centre-The Cougars took two matches at Solomon Sept. 13, 25-23, 25-18 over Solomon and 20-25, 25-28, 25-22 over Elyria Christian.
Against Solomon, Centre won 21 rally points made 44 of 49 serves.
Against Elyria, Centre won 36 rally points while making 60 of 70 serves with Kylie Burhoop recording three service aces.
Selena Seifert made good on 63 of 64 sets leading to 19 kills while Alyssa Luna was 12-12 for four kills. Luna dominated at the net, going 12-12 on attacks with nine kills and a block, Alisha Barney was 16-23 with seven kills and a block and Burhoop went 19-22 on the attack with seven kills.
With the sweep, Centre’s season record moved to 5-5.
Peabody-Burns-The Warriors lost at Olpe to Little River, 19-25, 15-25.
“We played pretty consistently until the score was 12-15 (in the first game),” coach Darren Schroeder said. “We couldn’t receive and we didn’t put ourselves in a good situation to attack on offense.
“In the second game, we allowed them to score four or more points on four occasion,” he added. “We still played a good game overall, but Little River is a very good team with some strong hitters.”
Kali Windsor led PBHS with three digs and four assists, Traci Windsor added six digs, one kill and one ace, Jessi Hilliard had four digs and two service aces and Hannah Redger added five digs and three kills.
With the loss, Peabody-Burns stands at 2-2 in HOA play and 5-4 overall.
The Warriors lost last week to Canton-Galva, 25-19, 25-27, 18-25.
“We completely dominated this match until the score was 24-18 in the second game, and they scored seven straight points,” Schroeder said. “Hopefully, this will be a positive learning experience for us. If we can learn from it, I think the team will grow tremendously.”
Leading the Warriors was: Alstrom with nine digs, four kills and seven assists; Windsor with six digs, two kills and four service aces; Hilliard with eight digs, six kills and three service aces; Kara Gridley with 10 digs and one kill and Becky Morris with six digs, three kills and two service aces.
