From Coach Bonnie Keepes:

Last night the Jr. Lady Aces Volleyball team won the first round of the SIJHSAA regionals in a close 3 set match against Olney. We came out the first set and must of had some nerves getting to us. We just didn’t play our game and had more errors than we should. Olney won 13-25, but that’s the wonderful thing about this game you get second chances! So with a clean slate, they fired up, kicked the fear out the door, and won the second set in a nail biter 26-24. We used that momentum and stayed up in the third set winning 15-10. I was proud of how they rallied and fought back.

In the game Tenley Davis had 2 aces, an assist, and 2 digs, Jayla Johnson picked up an ace 10 assist, a dig, and 6 kills, Ava Giese an ace, a dig, and 3 kills, Elyse Swanson 4 digs, Mattie Armstrong an ace 12 assists, Maycee Randall, an ace, 10 kills, and 4 blocks, Madelyn Bingham 4 kills, Anastasia Parker a kill, Lyla Keepes 3 aces, and Evie Sellers an ace. The girls fought for this game and I was very proud of them, Olney played much more clean than the 2 previous times we beat them, it was a hard fought battle.

The girls made it to the championship match facing Carmi, who previously in the evening had taken out Flora. Carmi is a tough team that puts together a strong attack almost every single volley. The girls put up a defense and had some good volleys, but we just were not able to score as many and make it a closer game like the last time we played them. Carmi picked up everything on defense as well, and were firing on all cylinders. They were playing seamlessly and can win state with play like that. Our girls don’t need to hang their heads, I know they tried hard, we just were not winning the volleys, with only 2 kills, we were sending over free balls, trying to recover from their attacks. That’s how most of the game went. Scores were 8-25, 12-25.

Tenley had 2 digs, and a kill, Jayla Johnson an ace, an assist, and 2 digs, Ava Giese 4 digs, Elyse Swanson 2 aces, 2 digs, Mattie Armstrong an ace, and a dig, Maycee Randall a block, Madelynn Bingham, a dig, a kill, and a block, and Anastasia Parker with 2 digs. The girls took second in class L SIJHSAA tournament. They ended the season with a 10-9 record. Coach Lezlie Johnson, our helper coach Chuck Turner and I are all proud of them. They are a fun bunch, and I will miss them. I will alway follow them with whatever they choose next.