BUFFALO – The Altoona-Midway Middle School volleyball team just narrowly missed recording its first victory of the 2024 season here Thursday afternoon.
The Lady Jets continue to show improvement, as evidenced by the fortitude displayed in forcing Liberty Homeschool Alliance into a tiebreaking third set in the dual match at Milo Peterson Gymnasium.
But in the end, the host AMMS squad and the home crowd went away disappointed – at least as far as the final score – as Liberty squeezed out a heart-stopping win by the scores of 25-13, 23-25, 16-14.
“We dug ourselves way too big of a hole in the first set. We lost that set mainly due to our own errors,” said Lady Jets head coach Tianne Wambsganss.
“But the rest of the day I was proud of the way we played. The girls were able to keep their heads in the game and fought back for a win in the second set,” Wambsganss continued.
“Sadly, the third set didn’t end up in our favor, but I was pleased with how the girls stayed positive and gave it their best to the end.”
In that deciding third set, Liberty jumped out to an early lead, but Altoona-Midway battled back to knot the score at 14-14. The visiting Lady Arrows then snared the final two points to claim the exciting win.
Destiny Raymond highlighted the stat chart for the Lady Jets. Raymond pounded out a total of 17 good serves, including a whopping 13 aces. She also was credited with 13 good service returns.
Kinzie Nalley, Allie Lockhart and Emily Burch all recorded six good serves, while Klaire Barlow notched five and Kaylor Lampe chipped in one. Nalley tallied four aces, while Lockhart and Barlow fired two apiece.
“The girls seemed a lot more confident during the match today,” Wambsganss noted, “and they continue to get better every practice.”
Altoona-Midway, 0-6 on the season, will hit the road to St. Paul on Monday, Sept. 23, for a quadrangular. Thayer and St. Patrick’s of Parsons will also participate. Action will get under way at 4 p.m.