THAYER – The Altoona-Midway Middle School volleyball team opened its 2023 fall campaign
with a triangular here Tuesday afternoon. The effort from the AMMS squad was clearly evident, but so was the team’s inexperience, as the Lady Jets dropped both of their matches. AMHS fell to Tyro 25-8, 25-10, and also to Thayer25-6, 25-8.
“Our team this year is really young and inexperienced (only three squad members have
previously played school volleyball),” said Lady Jet head coach Chary Weilert, “so to me, it was
important to spend a lot of time at our early practices teaching the girls where to go on each
rotation and to give them an understanding of the role of each player.
“After tonight's games, I'm confident that they understand positions and rotations,” Weilert added, “so this week during practice we can really work hard on the fundamentals of serving, passing, and setting.”
AMMS vs. Tyro
The Lady Eagles defeated Altoona-Midway 25-8, 25-10. Sandra Morales had two aces in set
one, while Sophia Sweigart collected two points and Destiny Raymond added another serving
point. In the second set, Emily Burch garnered two service points and Raymond added another.
“Our first match was plagued with serving errors and passing errors,” Weilert noted. “Some of
those errors were due to nerves and some of the errors were due to the fact that we focused on the basics of how to rotate, where to go during serve reception, and where to go when it's our service.”
AMMS vs. Thayer
In the nightcap, the Lady Flyers dispatched AMMS 25-6, 25-8.
“Although Thayer was probably the tougher opponent, the girls settled down and had more
successful passes which led to more attacks,” Weilert said. Morales had one kill in the match.
“It was good to get a couple games under our belt and we are looking forward to improving
every week,” Weilert added. Following the “A” matches, AMMS played a pair of “B” sets, falling by scores of 15-2 and 15-12. Assistant coach Tianne Wambsganss made her debut right along with most of the Lady Jet players.“She did a great job of encouraging them and guiding them,” Weilert said. “The first set was the first game ever for all six of our girls, so it was great to get new players on the court and give them experience.”
AMMS (0-2) will host a triangular Monday, Sept. 11, against Elk Valley and Altamont. First serve
is slated for 5 p.m. at Milo Peterson Gymnasium.