BUFFALO – Home sweet home.
The Altoona-Midway Middle School volleyball team likes the friendly confines of Milo Peterson
Gymnasium, and the home court was once again kind to the Jets as they swept past Liberty Homeschool Alliance in straight sets here Thursday afternoon.
The Jets defeated Liberty 25-17, 25-16, 25-19. Altoona-Midway has now hosted three volleyball dates this fall and AMHS has won at least won match on each occasion. The Jets are 3-2 at home this year, and 0-9 on the road.
I was really happy for the girls tonight,” said AMMS head coach Chary Weilert. “The girls were really loose and excited before the game so I knew they would be playing well tonight. I’m was also glad we won the first three right out of the gate. It feels good to win.”
Kaylor Lampe fired off eight aces in the first set alone, and finished with 11 for the match. Sandra
Morales smashed 10 aces during the match, with seven of those coming in the final set.
The Jets also got four aces from Destiny Raymond, and three each from Emily Burch and Sophia Sweigart. Morales also finished with two attacks over the net and Sweigart added one.
“I was really pleased with our serving percentages and accuracy in passing,” Weilert noted. “We’ve been working a lot on passing in practices and it shows. The girls are also getting better at reading the ball off of the hitter or server’s hand so they can anticipate where the ball is going to land and get their feet there in time to pass.”
The two schools also played a “B” match, with Liberty pulling out a victory. AMMS won the first set 25-17 but the Arrows rallied to win 25-15 and 15-8.
“Coach Wambsgass has really been working with the B-team girls on moving to the ball. The B-team has struggled in the past with letting too many balls hit the floor and tonight the girls showed a lot of improvement in that area,” Weilert commented. “Since our goal is to improve every game, I’m very proud of the B-team because that’s exactly what they did.
Altoona-Midway will have a chance to improve on their home record on Monday, Oct. 9, when the Jets host a triangular against Meadow View and Chetopa. That triangular was original scheduled to be hosted by Meadow View but was switched to Milo Peterson Gymnasium. First serve is slated for 5 p.m.
Photo courtesy of Cherokee Nalley.