WEDNESDAY, Sept. 15, 2021
ALTOONA-MIDWAY HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL
MORAN – Another day, another victory for the Altoona-Midway High School volleyball team.
The Lady Jets competed in the Marmaton Valley Quad here Wednesday. And while Altoona-Midway went just 1-2 in its three matches (sandwiching a victory over Uniontown between competitive loses to Marmaton Valley and Yates Center), the squad played solid volleyball for much of the evening, according to AMHS head coach Michelle Morales.
“We came out fighting tonight,” Morales said. “The girls played hard and stayed on their toes for basically the entire evening.”
After falling to host MVHS in the opener, 25-19, 25-18, the Lady Jets bounced back to defeat Uniontown 25-12, 25-19. After dropping a tightly-contest first set against Yates Center, Altoona-Midway eventually ran out of gas in the finale, losing 25-20, 25-8.
“We really gave Marmaton Valley a fight for the win in that first match,” Morales noted. “That match really set the pace for our second match against Uniontown. You could see the girls moving on the court and really following the ball and communicating with each other. They went out and played their game. They played to win and to have fun and it showed. I'm proud of them for that.
“We also started strong in the first set against Yates Center. We gave them a fight as well taking our score up to 20 points for the set,” Morales added. “But we just couldn't get it together for our final set.”
AMHS vs. Marmaton Valley
Alyssa Relph and Mariah Stackhouse both had solid overall games for the Lady Jets. Relph had seven serves, one ace, two kills, two blocks, and nine passes, while Stackhouse finished with seven serves, two aces, two kills, and 14 passes.
Emmalynn Pupanek paced the squad with five kills and three blocks. Bailey Graham had nine assists and six serves. Autumn Raymond recorded two kills and five serves, and Summer Raymond added a block.
AMHS vs. Uniontown
Relph and Stackhouse pounded out 10 kills apiece and Autumn Raymond collected seven in the win over Uniontown.
Stackhouse led with 15 serves, while Graham recorded nine and Summer Raymond and Pupanek had six each. Autumn Raymond fired two aces while Pupanek, Stackhouse and Summer Raymond notched one each.
Graham had 26 assists, Relph added a block, and Stackhouse and Pupanek were the passing leaders with 19 and 11, respectively.
AMHS vs. Yates Center
Pupanek smashed down four kills and came up with two blocks, while Stackhouse recorded two kills and Autumn Raymond fired one.
Stackhouse led the team with 18 passes and Graham finished with eight assists. In serving, the Raymond sisters each had four, Graham, Stackhouse and Relph had three apiece, and Pupanek added two, including an ace.
“Our captions stepped up again tonight and showed support for the team during our three matches,” Morales said. “Bailey Graham also boosted her teammates tonight and had some good plays. Mariah Stackhouse had a great number of passes tonight as well.
“I’m proud of the girls for everything they have accomplished so far this season – and we aren't even close to being done.”
Altoona-Midway, now 3-10 on the season, is slated to participate in the Humboldt Tournament Saturday. Action gets under way at 8:30 a.m.