MONDAY, Sept. 23, 2019
ALTOONA-MIDWAY HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL
HUMBOLDT – In current sports lingo, it’s often called “getting the dub.”
The Altoona-Midway High School volleyball team, despite playing well in several matches earlier this season, had nothing to show for it in the win column.
But that changed here Saturday as the Lady Jets played tough all day throughout the Humboldt Tournament and also picked up their first victory of the season.
Altoona-Midway finished on the right side of the scoreboard in their second match of the day, defeating Central Heights 25-19, 25-22.
“I am very proud of our girls getting the win,” said Lady Jets head coach Treasure Scott. “But not just for that. We played well the whole tournament.”
The Lady Jets battled throughout the tourney, but fell in their other three matches on the day. AMHS lost to St. Mary’s-Colgan of Pittsburg 25-12, 25-5; to Marmaton Valley 25-16, 25-17; and to Pleasanton 25-20, 25-13.
“I was also proud of how we handled ourselves after picking up the win,” Scott added. “We didn’t let it get to our head. We played some good volleyball against both Marmaton Valley and Pleasanton.
The Lady Jets enjoyed valuable contributions from several individuals in their victory over Central Heights. Emma Martin had four aces and three digs; Natalie Davis smashed three kills from her outside hitter spot; Mariah Stackhouse and Shia Bennett contributed aces; and Alyssa Relph and Abby Reaves also added kills.
Josie Huffman racked up five serving points for AMHS while Bennett was credited with five digs, Reaves had three digs and Stackhouse added two.
In the opening-match loss to Colgan, Bennett and Martin each recorded aces.
“We didn’t start off the way I would like (against Colgan), but we played well against a very good team,” Scott noted.
Against Marmaton Valley, Martin had two aces and six digs, Huffman had one ace and five digs, Reeves had an ace, two kills and two digs; Davis came up with three digs and Bennett added an ace.
In the finale with Pleasanton, Huffman notched five serving points and six digs, while Davis had a kill and four digs. Reaves, Stackhouse, and Martin all had aces, while Reaves, Bennett, Huffman and Summer Tarlton had two digs apiece.
“We’re happy to get a win, and we know where we have areas to improve,” Scott said. “The girls can’t wait to get back on the court.”
The Lady Jets didn’t have to wait long to do just that. AMHS was scheduled to travel to Melvern on Monday to compete in a triangular with Lyndon and host Marais des Cygnes.